Jana nayagan Locks A Date - What Will Happen?

After months of getting stuck between censor hurdles and political noise, Tamil Superstar Vijay’s latest outing, and probably his last, Jananayagan, finally looks like it has a release date locked. Strong reports from Kollywood suggest that May 8th is being locked. This is coming in the wake of the buzz that the Censor Board’s revising committee is giving clearance for the movie with some cuts. The road is clear now for the release, but the real tension begins here.

The film is landing just days after the election results on May 4. That timing can either lift the film to a high or get it crushed if Vijay loses big time in the election. If the star’s political wave works in his favour, the film walks into theatres with huge attention. If not, the atmosphere could turn neutral or even distracted. Either way, the team doesn’t have the luxury of building hype now. There is neither time for events, nor time for aggressive promotions. It’s a straight landing in theatres with whatever buzz is left.

And that buzz isn’t at its peak. The delays have already slowed things down. A big OTT deal slipping away didn’t help the film. Piracy leaks revealing key portions made things worse. By the time the film arrives, a part of its surprise factor is diluted, because some enthusiastic Tamil audience caught up with Balakrishna’s Balwant Kesari, to find out the story of the film. That’s not a good place for a big film to be in.

While Tamil Nadu will show up for a Vijay film regardless, the same confidence doesn’t extend to other markets because of the political aspect and remake angle. Beyond core fans, the 250+ crores budgeted film may not get attention big time in other zones. Now everything depends on one thing. The film has to work. Because this time, timing alone won’t save it.