Cine News Digest – 07 Jan 2026

Crisis for Vijay’s Jana Nayagan

The eleventh hour postponement of Vijay’s Jana Nayagan is an ugly blight not only on the face of Tamil cinema, but on the image of India as a democracy.

This is not the first time that a film was suddenly postponed. Vijay’s 2013 film, Thalaiva suffered a similar fate. In the same year, Kamal Haasan’s ambitious trend-setting movie, Viswaroopam also was postponed. The reasons for the postponement have varied, but they all reflect a disturbing truth – Almost anyone can cripple a film, often for the most frivolous of reasons.

Literally thousands of people are counting on the success of the film to earn an income, but there is a more important repercussion – The negative perception that is being created in overseas markets of the Tamil industry being an unreliable one. Overseas distributors struggle to secure screens, often in popular multiplexes. When major films are postponed, it places exhibitors and distributors in a very difficult position.

The reason for the delay in certification of Jana Nayagan remains unclear, but the internet is abuzz with many theories about the motivation for the move and who stands to gain from the postponement. The theories range from plausible guesses of interference from opposition parties, to the more unlikely scenario of this being a massive PR exercise aimed at benefiting Vijay’s TVK and increasing interest in the movie.

The matter is expected to be finalised by Friday 09 January – the day of the planned release. Today saw a flurry of activity from distributors and exhibitors but no comment at all from Vijay or the Jana Nayagan team.

Sivakarthikeyan’s Parasakthi likely to have a solo release this Pongal

The postponement of Jana Nayagan opens up the possibility of a solo release for Sivakarthikeyan’s 25^th film Parasakthi which is directed by Sudha Kongara, the director of Irudhi Suttru and Soorarai Pottru. The period action drama deals with the sensitive issue of Hindi imposition in Tamil Nadu in the 1960s. It also stars Ravi Mohan, Atharva and Sreeleela.

AK64 to undergo some changes

Shooting for Ajithkumar’s 64^th film will commence this February, Sreeleela has been signed on to play a major role. The film will be directed by Adhik Ravichandran, the director of Good Bad Ugly. Anirudh Ravichander will score the music.

Suriya anxious to re-establish his position in Kodambakkam.

After a lukewarm response to Retro, Suriya is anxious to re-establish his once strong position in the Tamil film field through the release of his next film, Karuppu, He has requested the film’s director – R.J. Balaje – to ensure that the film releases on schedule on February 26^th. This is to ensure that his other films are not adversely affected. Karuppu also stars Trisha, Natty Subramanian, Swasika, Sshivada, Yogi Babu and R.J. Balaje in a cameo.

Venkat Prabhu scouting locations

Venkat Prabhu and his team are currently scouting for locations in Dubai to film principal portions of his first collaboration with Sivakathikeyan. The film is a time-travel based science fiction comedy thriller. Yuvanshankar Raja scores the music.

“Parking” director in talks with Sivakarthikeyan

National Award winner, Ramkumar Balakrishnan, has approached Sivakarthikeyan for a possible collaboration. He had prepared a script for Rajinikanth and was hopeful of getting the nod. However, when it was announced last week that Cibi Chakravarthy (director of Don) has been chosen to direct the Kamal Haasan production, Ramkumar Balakrishnan made some minor changes and has pitched the altered idea to Sivakarthikeyan.