How Jana Nayagan's delay is impacting Kollywood

The uncertainty surrounding Vijay’s Jana Nayagan ’s release due to the legal tussle with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has disrupted Tamil cinema’s release calendar.

It has triggered a domino effect that producers and exhibitors state has slowed the business and stalled planning across the board.Producer G Dhananjheyan doesn’t deem the delay as a box-office loss but an “opportunity loss”. “The box office deficit of January due to Jana Nayagan ’s postponement can’t be perceived as a loss per se. Whenever the film releases, it’ll get back its revenue. However, the opportunity for the theatres to screen other films is lost.”Exhibitor Ankitha Prakash agrees that Jana Nayagan ’s delay left filmmakers hesitant to lock in dates. “Other films aren’t confirming their releasedate. Films that were supposed to be released for Valentine’s Day now prefer to wait and don’t want to announce the release date, as no one wants to go back and forth. Everyone is trying to work around Jana Nayagan .”Dhananjheyan points out that the main impact of the uncertainty over the release date is that it led to the postponement of expected films like Pradeep Ranganathanstarrer Love Insurance Kompany (LIK) .

“The revenue opportunity lost due to the non-release in the theatrical segment is huge. Many theatres have been running with very few audiences for the last two months. If there is some clarity on the release date, other films can schedule their release date accordingly,” he states.“We expected January to start with a bang and Pongal to be a big deal since Jana Nayagan is the most anticipated film of 2026,” says Ankitha, adding, “January wasn’t bad due to Thalaivar Thambi Thalaimaiyil performing really well. Parasakthi ran for 25 days, and Chiranjeevi’s Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu also helped us,” she says.