Along with fans, celebrities have also started making a beeline to watch CM Vijay's swansong Jana Nayagan, directed by H Vinoth. Among those seen for the first day, first show screening were Anirudh, Trisha's mother Uma Krishnan and Dushara Vijayan. The composer-singer was greeted with loud cheers as soon as he entered Vettri Theatres in Chennai. Later he waves his hand at the crowd who welcomed him and recreated Vijay's iconic hand gesture from Mersal (2017). Dushara was seen entering Rohini Cinemas with a cap and sunglasses. She waved at the press and media before entering the theatre to watch the film.
Before Trisha, the actor's mother Uma Krishnan visited Rohini Theatres to watch the star on the big screen. Aishwarya and Archana Kalpathi of AGS Entertainment celebrated Vijay's final film at their home ground AGS Cinemas. Before visiting the theatre, Archana, who backed GOAT (2024) shared nostalgic posts reminiscing pictures from a decade ago where she celebrated his FDFS at Villivakkam.
"Years of First Look, First Poster, First song, Song by you in the Album, Audio Launch, Kutty stories (That I still listen to), Trailer, twitter fan fights about every record to that final FDFS moment. I will always cherish every single film through my childhood and Adulthood. Thank you for entertaining us, bringing us Joy, inspiring us and now Leading us. Time to celebrate our Thalapathy, our Honorable CM, our Jananayagan today," she wrote on her X handle. She also shared how she fought for a ticket to catch Jana Nayagan, years after doing the same for AR Murugadoss' Thuppakki (2012).
Vijay's Jana Nayagan release marks the end of a six-month-long battle with the CBFC for the actor, director H Vinoth and production house KVN Productions. The film recently received an A certificate from the CBFC with over 12 cuts/modifications. However, it will be released in the UK without any cuts. Celebrations are taking place across theatres in Tamil Nadu and other states, with unprecedented crowds taking over screens, dancing for songs and cheering for their favourite star one last time.
Despite being plagued by several hurdles, including a large-scale piracy where the entire film was leaked, the film is expected to open with record-breaking numbers with trade circles predicting a mammoth day 1 collection of over Rs 100 crore. Around 8,000 shows are planned across India, including more than 3,500 in Tamil Nadu.
Directed by H Vinoth, the film boasts a star-studded ensemble featuring Pooja Hegde, and Bobby Deol, alongside Gautham Vasudev Menon, Prakash Raj, Narain and Priyamani. The film is backed by Venkat K Narayana of KVN Productions, in its foray into Tamil cinema. Jana Nayagan is also a partial remake of the 2023 Telugu film Bhagavanth Kesari.
