A day after social media was abuzz with debates and discussions on Jana Nayagan's leak on pirated sites, an official comment from from the film's cast has come out. Pooja Hegde, who stars with Vijay in the actioner has shared her reaction to the incident, calling it "disheartening."
The actor, who has previously worked with Vijay in Beast, stars alongside Mamitha Baiju, Bobby Deol, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Prakash Raj, Narain and Priyamani in the H Vinoth directorial which was set for release in theatres during the Pongal festival in January. The film faced major delays and legal hurdles due to censor certificate-related issues and continues to remain in the cans. Amidst these impediments, the makers faced a major setback as the entire duration of the film was leaked online by unknown individuals, which was later shared widely on pirated sites, shocking the Tamil cinema fraternity and the movie's producers.
Pooja Hegde expressed her sadness on seeing it being leaked. "It is tough-not because of numbers, but because it takes away the respect that every artist and technician on the film deserves," she wrote on her Instagram story, calling on audiences to watch the film in theatres to celebrate Vijay's last film. "Don't we all deserve to gather together to celebrate and watch Vijay sir's last film, one last time, on the big screen in the right way?" she asked, urging users not to encourage piracy. "That's how cinema and art will survive," she said, promising fans and film enthusiasts that the film will be "out in due time."
A day earlier, major names in the industry including Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Suriya, Karthi, Sivakarthikeyan, Khushbu Sundar, directors Karthik Subbaraj, RJ Balaji and Rajkumar Periasamy, producers Kalaipuli S Thanu, Archana and Aishwarya Kalpathi, GV Prakash, Vijay Antony, Shanthnu, Sibi Sathyaraj and many others had raised their concern on the perils of piracy and urged people to respect filmmakers and cinema. The Tamil Film Producers Council as well as Film Employees' Federation of South India (FEFSI) too condemned the act.