Producers Of Vijay Starrer "Jana Nayagan" Movie Approach Madras High Court Over Non-Issuance Of CBFC Certificate

The producers of the much-anticipated Tamil movie "Jana Nayagan" starring Vijay have approached the Madras High Court seeking the issuance of a censor certificate.

Justice PT Asha on Tuesday (6th January) allowed an urgent motion made by the producers of the movie. 

KVN Productions, represented by Venkata K Narayana, who is producing the movie, has approached the court alleging that the movie's certification is being unreasonably withheld and delayed, which would in turn would cause massive financial loss to the producers of the movie.

Narayana submitted that he had applied for a censor certificate on December 18, 2025, which was duly acknowledged by the Regional Officer on December 19. He added that on December 22, he received a communication from the Regional Office informing him that the Examining Committee had recommended granting a "UA" certificate for the movie, subject to the compliance of certain excisions and modifications specified in the communication.

He added that in its communication, the regional office has informed that the reason for granting a "UA" certificate was because the movie contains a brief portrayal of religious sentiments, frequent and sustained fight sequences involving shooting, blasts and stabbing and gory visuals, which may not be suitable for children below 16 years of age.

Narayana further submitted that these modifications had been duly complied with and a revised version was resubmitted on December 24, 2025. Following this, the regional office verified the modifications and on December 29, informed him that the movie would be given a "UA" certificate. However, it was submitted that even after this communication, the certificate had not been issued till date. 

It was submitted that on January 5th, 2026, Narayana received an email from the Regional Office informing that the competent authority had decided to refer the movie to the Revising Committee as per Rule 24 of the Cinematograph Certification Rules based on a complaint alleging that the contents of the movie hurt religious sentiments and regarding its portrayal of the armed forces.

It has been argued that reopening the certification process based on an undisclosed and vague complaint is arbitrary and not in accordance with the law. It has also been argued that when the movie has not been made available to the public and has only been seen by the members of the committee, the receipt of a complaint regarding the movie's content is suspicious and inexplicable. It was also argued that entertaining such anonymous complaints would set a dangerous precedent and would open floodgates for frivolous and motivated objections to be raised for every film.

It has been further submitted that Rule 24 could not be invoked after the committee has already applied its mind and recommended the grant of a certificate.

The producer also informed the court that the movie is to be released in three more languages, and only after getting a certificate for the Tamil version, the makers could take steps to get the movie certified in other languages also. With the movie slated to be released on January 9th, it was submitted that the producers would be put to great  financial loss if the certification was delayed. 

After hearing the petitioners, the court directed the CBFC to produce the complaints based on which the movie was sent to the review committee and adjourned the case to Wednesday (7th December).

Counsel for Petitioner: Senior Advocate Satish Parasaran

Counsel for Respondents: Additional Solicitor General ARL Sundaresan

Case Title: M/s. KVN Productions LLP v. Central Board of Film Certification 

Case No: WP 380 of 2026