Recently, we reported about Jana Nayagan producer, Venkat K Narayana's KVN Productions banner, filing an appeal to the Supreme Court that challenged the Madras High Court's interim order staying a directive by justice PT Asha to the Censor Board to immediately issue the clearance certificate for the film. The latest development about it is that the Supreme Court has dismissed the plea, thereby not interfering with the High Court's stay. The appellate court has also asked the film's producer to raise its arguments in front of the High Court Division Bench on January 20 and asked the latter to make an effort to take a final call on the appeal on that date. This does not mean that the Supreme Court is issuing an order mandating the High Court to decide on the issue by the said date, but rather it is giving a directive to the latter to do so by pointing out the time-sensitive nature of the issue.
Directed by H Vinoth, Jana Nayagan was initially set to hit theatres on January 09 as one of the Pongal releases. However, with the latest Supreme Court directive, the film continues to be in the crosshairs of censorship formalities. Reportedly, the Censor Board objected to the amount of violence in Vijay's final film, and KVN Productions adhered to the board's directions to make cuts to those portions. However, according to reports, the board brought up further issues just before the film's scheduled release date, including an Indian defence emblem that is allegedly present in some scenes. Reportedly, the board sought clarification from the film's makers regarding the presence of the said emblem as part of its review process. Some Censor Board members flagged sequences in the film that have certain communal elements as well.
Many industry insiders allege that the delayed censorship process is a political ploy to block Vijay's final film, because of the actor's public opposition of the BJP.