A heart-breaking news has come to the fans of Tamil cinema superstar and Thalapathy Vijay, who has entered politics. Vijay’s last and most awaited film ‘Jana Nayakan’, which was stuck in legal trouble for the last several months awaiting censor board approval, has been leaked in high-definition (HD) print on pirated websites on Friday. Before the film was leaked, some of its clips—including the film’s title credits, introduction scene, and climax—were leaked on social media. Vijay’s fans have expressed shock over this alleged leak and have appealed to the production house to file a complaint.
Initially, the makers of the film took immediate action and removed the clips circulating on X (Twitter) and other social media platforms. But, soon the HD version of the film appeared on pirated sites. As of Friday morning, a purportedly leaked URL was visible on the film’s Wikipedia page. However, it could also be a virus or harmful link.
Meanwhile, a notorious piracy website—known for releasing Tamil movies illegally—shared a note explaining why they will stay away from releasing ‘Jana Nayakan’ on their platform.
The site, TamilMV, shared a note that read, “We are aware of the current political issues related to the actor. As per our ethics, we upload content only after the film is released in theatres. This film will not be uploaded here before its official release.”
Although the makers of the film are removing the leaked clips from social media platforms, many people have raised concerns over the entire film being leaked.
‘Jana Nayakan’ vs Censor Board in court
‘Jana Nayakan’ was promoted as Vijay’s farewell film, after which he was going to bid goodbye to cinema and completely enter politics. The film was scheduled to release on January 9, but was postponed a few days before the scheduled date. This happened because the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had expressed concern over some scenes in the film, which could hurt people’s sentiments.
Subsequently, the filmmakers approached the Madras High Court and sought its intervention to speed up the certification process. However, after a month-long legal tussle between the makers of ‘Jana Nayakan’ and the CBFC, the team agreed to withdraw the case and send the film to a ‘revising committee’.
The film is now with the revising committee, and it is not clear whether the film has been shown to the committee members or not. It was reported that the screening scheduled for the review committee was canceled after a member fell ill.
There are reports that this film is likely to be approved only after the Tamil Nadu assembly elections are over. One reason for this delay is that Vijay is contesting the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections on behalf of his political party, ‘Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam’ (TVK).
‘Jana Nayakan’ produced by KVN Productions is a commercial entertainer with political undertones. Apart from Thalapathy Vijay, the film will also star Pooja Hegde, Bobby Deol, Mamita Baiju, Gautham Menon, Prakash Raj and Priyamani.