The controversy around the release of Thalapathy Vijay’s upcoming film Jana Nayagan took a serious legal turn this week. What began as a certification delay has now turned into a larger debate about how film releases are planned in India. The issue reached the Madras High Court where questions were raised about whether producers should announce release dates before receiving approval from the Central Board of Film Certification. While the matter remains unresolved it has already sparked widespread discussion within the film industry. Another battle for Thalapathy Vijay starrer The details of the case became clearer during the latest hearing. The producers of Jana Nayagan defended their decision by pointing out that announcing a release date before certification is a common industry practice. To strengthen their argument they even cited a recent Bollywood example involving Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar 2. What happened during the Madras High Court hearing? The hearing took place on Tuesday where the Madras High Court stayed the earlier order in the case between the CBFC and Jana Nayagan producers KVN Productions. The CBFC was represented by Additional Solicitor General ARL Sundaresan while Senior Advocate Satish Parasaran appeared for the producers. The CBFC argued that the makers fixed the release date of January 9 even before certification. The board questioned how producers could claim financial losses while choosing a release date without prior approval. It was also pointed out that the producers had earlier argued that delays could lead to losses worth Rs 500 crore. Producers defend their stand with the example of Dhurandhar 2 Responding to the court’s concerns the producers stated that no film waits for certification before announcing a release date. Parasaran informed the bench that Jana Nayagan had already been certified in 22 countries. He added that announcing release dates early is a standard practice followed across industries. To support this claim he mentioned Dhurandhar 2 starring Ranveer Singh. The release date of the sequel was announced at the end of the first film’s release despite the film not having CBFC certification at that time. According to the producers this example shows that Jana Nayagan was not an exception.