The change in his status that came in May might also have brought about a change in the censors’ hearts as they allowed the movie into the cinema halls with various cuts, mostly small for the pettiest of reasons, and some political excuses as a wannabe neta was involved
The release of the film Jana Nayagan has brought a deluge of joy to the youth even as it has come as a slap on the face of authoritarianism that caused it a delay of seven months. It is risible enough in the modern age that the nation still believes in “censorship” and acts accordingly too. That a censor issue should become starkly political is a commentary on how those ruling from New Delhi may have become so ungraciously political as to trample upon the right to freedom of expression to meet a very narrow political objective.
At the time the film went to the censors in December 2025, Vijay was not just a movie star but a political aspirant with a fledgling party who was bidding to ride the crest of a wave of youth support. And they may have manufactured an excuse through a solitary dissenting member of the panel to keep the film certification pending, more because of the protagonist’s political ambitions than any seriously objectionable content in the movie.
The irony comes home with a bang that a candidate they themselves had underestimated should ride a whirlwind of Gen Z admiration and support and go on to win the polls and, as chief minister, form the government in Tamil Nadu. The change in his status that came in May might also have brought about a change in the censors’ hearts as they allowed the movie into the cinema halls with various cuts, mostly small for the pettiest of reasons, and some political excuses as a wannabe neta was involved.
It is a comment on their maturity at such a tender age in politics that they faced the hazard with patience while taking censorship as just another challenge among the several impediments that the rulers in the national capital as well as in Tamil Nadu placed in the way of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. The troubles that Vijay faced before the polls are placed in the pale now by the noticeable success of the film, a typical Vijay amalgam of family drama, skirmishes, cinematic action and airing of social issues.
The delight it has brought to die-hard Vijay fans was tinged with the odd tear of disappointment that this may be his swansong in the reel world because, as the real CM, his life has been transformed by the choice the people made at the polling station EVMs in April. Such a makeover may seem cinematic but Vijay as neta is here to stay as a wonder in real life.
