Sometimes the real takes a cue from the reel. Months before C. Joseph Vijay secured his win in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, he was declared “people’s hero” in his latest film Jana Nayagan.
Long before the film’s official title was released, Vijay’s fans and the media had dubbed it “Thalapathy 69”, since this is his 69th film.
Jana Nayagan was to be released in January. In it, Vijay plays a former cop who is at odds with the system. An odd turn of events and he finds himself becoming the people’s hero.
The problem with the film arose in December itself. The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) flagged concerns about excessive screen violence. It also felt the film had the potential to hurt religious sentiments. There were other issues too. Although the producers had initially challenged the CBFC’s decision at the Madras High Court, they eventually withdrew their petition.
Amidst all this, in April, some of the key scenes surfaced, followed by a pirated copy of the entire film.
Tamil film critic, director and screenwriter Pritham K. Chakravarthy tells The Telegraph, “It’s possible that the ban and the leak were part of the political game, but without all of it, the film would still have been a mass success. And Vijay would still have become the chief minister.”
Chakravarthy says, “Tamil cinema and politics have travelled together. The public has been educated in politics through cinema since 1949.” She talks about Velaikari written by C.N. Annadurai, the founder of the DMK party, and Parasakthi by M. Karunanidhi. She adds, “Vijay’s films have not always had social messages. I find them rather misogynistic. It’s only after he joined politics in 2024 that his filmography took a political turn.” The running joke among his fans is that Vijay became CM just to facilitate the release of his banned film.
Jana Nayagan is to hit the theatres any day now. Or as Vijay playing Vetri Kondan “Thalapathy”, IPS, says in the trailer with a shake of his head and tongue click for punctuation. “I am… coming.”