‘Don’t back down’: H Vinoth recounts what Vijay said when CBFC blocked Jana Nayagan

The examining committee watched the film and responded quickly. “They called me and said there’s no problem with the film for us. But there is violence in the film. They told me if they cut that out, they’ll give a UA 16+ certificate,” he said. Vinoth agreed without hesitation and began making the cuts immediately. Because the film involved heavy CGI, the technical work required an extra day.

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However, then came additional requests. “My team came over and said, ‘you still need to do a few more cuts.’ We thought if we do all that, it would be good,” Vinoth recalled. He complied with these requests as well and prepared the final version for upload.

That is where the process broke down. “While doing all that, the window to upload didn’t open for us. Then we called the server and asked, and sent an email too. After that, as soon as the window opened, we checked with the head office,” Vinoth said. The head office asked for a specific time, which Vinoth provided. But instead of the portal opening, a complaint letter arrived, and the entire certification process was frozen. “So, we put everything on hold. That’s why they said the window couldn’t be opened,” he said.

Vinoth noted that another major release, Parasakthi, was also facing censor issues at the same time. Both films were close to their release dates. While Parasakthi received its certificate, Jana Nayagan remained stuck.

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“Both movies have issues, but one movie got the censor certificate. Once it was granted, the news came out. Now, whether this movie will get censor clearance or not, until we get that answer, we can’t do anything,” Vinoth said.

The makers filed a case in court, but according to Vinoth, the legal route only made things worse. “As soon as we filed the case, that’s when we got an answer saying they were going to revise it,” he said. The case moved between courts, eventually reaching the Supreme Court. “In the end, they told us not to push it and just let it go. All of this happened openly,” Vinoth said.

Through all of this, Vinoth said the two people who held the strongest were Vijay and producer K Venkata Narayana. When the censor issue first erupted, the producer called Vinoth and asked what Vijay had said. Vinoth recalled the response clearly.

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“I remember Vijay said, ‘No matter what happens, I’ll stand by you till the end. Don’t back down,’” Vinoth said. He then added, with visible emotion, that it was not Vijay or the producer who crumbled under the pressure. It was him. “I was the one who got upset and cried. Apart from all that, those two were really tough. Since they were strong, I felt a lot of pressure, but I was happy about it,” he said.

Jana Nayagan eventually received an A certificate after the makers withdrew their court petition and resubmitted the film to the CBFC’s revising committee. The film, which was originally scheduled for a Pongal release on January 9, finally arrived in theatres on Friday, over six months later.

The full extent of what happened between the examining committee’s initial clearance and the complaint letter that froze the process remains unclear. Vinoth himself acknowledged this. “There’s just speculation, and because it’s all speculation, we don’t really know what’s true. That’s why I’m staying away from any controversy around this. There’s no solid evidence,” he said.

Jana Nayagan, directed by H. Vinoth and produced by K. Venkata Narayana under KVN Productions, stars Vijay alongside Pooja Hegde, Bobby Deol, Mamitha Baiju, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Prakash Raj, Narain and Priyamani, with music by Anirudh Ravichander. The film is now running in theatres worldwide.