4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 9, 2026 10:25 PM IST
After a seven-month-long certification battle, Vijay’s Jana Nayagan has finally received an A certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). However, the clearance has come with a series of modifications, including changes to references linked to Vijay’s political party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), visuals featuring Dr B R Ambedkar, the Indian national flag, and several dialogues.
The CBFC’s list of excisions and modifications, now available on its website, shows that the makers carried out 12 changes before the political action drama was certified. The film is now set for a worldwide release on July 24.
Confirming the development to SCREEN, Suprith Mohan, business head and producer at KVN Productions, said the film had now received its certificate. “We’ll be releasing the movie worldwide on July 24,” he said.
TVK references modified, Ambedkar visual changed
Among the most notable changes is the replacement of the dialogue “Ambedkar sattam” with “TVK sattam” at one point in the film, while the board also directed the makers to remove the usage of “TVK” elsewhere in the audio and video wherever it appeared.
The CBFC also directed the makers to modify all visuals featuring Dr B. R. Ambedkar on the cover of a book wherever they appeared in the film.
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Indian flag shot deleted, several words muted
The censor board also directed the deletion of a shot showing the Indian national flag falling to the ground.
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Several words and references have been muted, including:
“Bhagavatham” and “Ranganathar”
“Thevidiya Paiya” and “Oththa”
The word “OM” during a scene explaining “Operation Meluha”
“India en kalla vizha vaikaren”
“Siluvaila”
CBFC also muted an entire dialogue beginning with “Ponnoda…” at one point in the film.
Child burning visuals replaced
The CBFC further asked the makers to delete and replace visuals depicting a child burning. Another visual showing a District Collector’s office badge/cigarette being rolled down disrespectfully was also replaced.
In addition, the name “Sheela Rani” has been replaced wherever it is spoken in the film.
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According to the certification details, the cumulative deletions amount to 20 seconds, while 10 seconds of footage or dialogue have been replaced. The film’s final certified runtime is 183 minutes and 11 seconds (3 hours, 3 minutes and 11 seconds).
Seven-month certification battle finally ends
Jana Nayagan was originally scheduled to release on January 9, ahead of Pongal, and was submitted to the CBFC in December 2025. Although the examining committee initially suggested modifications, the certification process remained stalled for months after the film was referred to the revising committee.
KVN Productions then moved the Madras High Court, seeking directions to the CBFC to certify the film. While a single judge initially directed the board to issue a certificate at the earliest, a division bench headed by Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava set aside that order and remanded the matter for fresh consideration. With the legal proceedings dragging on and no immediate resolution in sight, the makers eventually withdrew their writ petition.
The prolonged standoff went on to become one of the most closely followed certification disputes in recent Tamil cinema before finally ending with the CBFC awarding the film an A certificate.
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Piracy leak
Jana Nayagan suffered another major setback in April when an unfinished high-definition version of the film surfaced online before it had even received censor clearance.
What initially appeared to be a leak of a few scenes soon turned out to be the entire film, which spread rapidly across WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube and torrent websites.
The Tamil Nadu Police later arrested several people in connection with the leak, including a freelance film editor. During hearings before the Madras High Court, the prosecution informed the court that the pirated version had been viewed nearly 1.2 crore times before authorities managed to block access. Investigators alleged that the leaked copy had been assembled using footage illicitly copied from an editing suite.
Directed by H Vinoth, the political action drama stars Vijay alongside Pooja Hegde, Bobby Deol, Mamitha Baiju, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Prakash Raj, Priyamani, Narain and Nassar, with music composed by Anirudh Ravichander.
