‘Jana Nayagan’ Row: Rahul Calls It Attack on Tamil Culture

Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that the Centre’s reported attempt to block the screening of Tamil actor Vijay’s film ‘Jana Nayagan’ is a direct attack on Tamil culture , and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will never succeed in silencing the Tamil people . Responding on X , the Congress leader argued that stopping the film’s release is not merely a cinema issue but a broader attempt to curb cultural expression and public voice in Tamil Nadu.

The controversy has escalated into a high-profile legal battle involving the CBFC and the Madras High Court , eventually reaching the Supreme Court . The film’s producers moved the apex court after the Madras High Court Division Bench stayed a Single Judge’s direction ordering the CBFC to issue an immediate censor certificate . With this stay, the planned Pongal release of the movie on January 9 was pushed into uncertainty, triggering political reactions and renewed debate around censorship and creative freedom.

Court reporting indicates that the film was submitted for certification in December 2025, after which the CBFC examining process suggested changes that the makers claimed they complied with. However, days before the release, the CBFC referred the film to a Revising Committee , reportedly following a complaint that raised concerns regarding religious sentiments and depiction of the armed forces . This last-minute procedural move became the central point of dispute, with the filmmakers arguing that the delay effectively amounted to blocking the release without proper justification.

On January 9, Justice P.T. Asha of the Madras High Court ruled that the CBFC should issue the certificate without delay, reportedly observing that once the board had effectively taken a decision to certify the film, its Chairperson could not later divert it into another layer of scrutiny. Within hours, the CBFC appealed, and the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice M.M. Shrivastava stayed the order, noting that CBFC had not been given adequate opportunity to respond fully thereby reviving uncertainty around the film’s certification and theatrical release.

Now pending before the Supreme Court, the case has become an important flashpoint in the ongoing debate on freedom of expression , state regulation of cinema, and whether certification mechanisms are being used to indirectly influence politically sensitive narratives. The issue has gained further traction because Vijay recently launched his political party TVK , and ‘Jana Nayagan’ is widely described as his last film before fully entering electoral politics, giving the dispute strong cultural and political significance beyond the film industry.