Jana Nayagan

Jana Nayagan (transl. The People's Hero) is an upcoming Indian Tamil language Mass Masala commercial action film directed by H. Vinoth and produced by KVN Productions. The film stars Vijay, Pooja Hegde and Bobby Deol in the lead roles, alongside Gautham Vasudev Menon, Prakash Raj, Narain, Priyamani, Mamitha Baiju, Monisha Blessy and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar. It is intended to be the final film of Vijay before his political entry, as well as KVN's first Tamil language production.
The film was officially announced in September 2024 under the tentative title Thalapathy 69, as it is Vijay's 69th film as a lead actor, and the official title was announced in January 2025. Principal photography commenced the following month in Chennai along with a schedule in Payanoor. The film has music composed by Anirudh Ravichander, cinematography handled by Sathyan Sooryan and editing by Pradeep E. Ragav.
Jana Nayagan is scheduled to be released on 9 January 2026 in theaters.
On 2 February 2024, Vijay announced through his social media accounts that he would step into politics after completing his ongoing projects, The Greatest of All Time (2024) and another film tentatively titled Thalapathy 69. The Times of India suggested Karthik Subbaraj would direct the project, with Sun Pictures producing, while Pinkvilla noted that the director had not been finalised, naming Anil Ravipudi, H. Vinoth, Subbaraj or Atlee as potential choices. Later, Vetrimaaran emerged as a possibility, with the project reportedly being funded by D. V. V. Danayya's DVV Entertainment. However, in March, Vetrimaaran confirmed that he was not involved, narrowing the options to Trivikram and Vinoth. Reports soon suggested Vinoth was likely to direct. Director RJ Balaji revealed that Vijay had considered scripts from 15–20 directors, including himself, for the project.
While working on Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru and Mersal (both 2017) respectively, Vinoth had narrated a script to Vijay, who declined. Vinoth later approached Kamal Haasan, who was impressed and signed him for his 233rd film. However, the project was shelved due to the delays in Indian 2 (2024) and Indian 3 (2025). Vinoth revisited Vijay with the script, who reportedly accepted a ₹275 crore (US$32 million) deal, making him the highest-paid Indian actor, surpassing Shah Rukh Khan and Rajinikanth. In August, Vinoth confirmed his role as director, receiving ₹15–20 crore, with Venkat K. Narayana's KVN Productions funding the project in their first Tamil venture. Vijay's manager, Jagadish Palanisamy, and Lohith N. K. serve as co-producers. The film was made on a ₹300 crore (US$35 million) budget. The project was set to be announced on 22 June, Vijay's birthday, with shooting commencing from the following month, but was postponed with the actor's request. The company made a public announcement on 14 September, confirming the project, and the official title Jana Nayagan was announced on 26 January 2025, Republic Day.
When Vinoth was committed to Haasan's 233rd film, he received changes from the actor which went to the final script and was narrated to Vijay. Although Vijay was highly impressed with the script, he had reportedly advised the director to make some changes. Vinoth said the film would be made completely in Vijay's style, unlike his previous films, which he considered to be political. However, the poster announcement of the film, which featured the tagline "torch bearer of democracy", made some media question the film's genre. A muhurat puja was held on 4 October 2024, the second day of Navaratri, at Prime Studio in Chennai with the film's cast and crew.
In early October 2024, Sathyan Sooryan was announced as the cinematographer, marking his second film with Vinoth after Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru (2017) and Vijay after Master (2021). Anirudh Ravichander would score the music, in his first collaboration with the director. Vinoth had further chosen technicians in his maiden collaboration, including editor Pradeep E. Ragav, stunt choreographer Anl Arasu, art director V. Selvakumar, costume designer Pallavi Singh and choreographer Sekhar VJ and Sudhan, while retaining publicity designer Gopi Prasannaa. Ramkumar Balasubramaniam was appointed as executive producer of the film by the production house.
Vijay had reportedly finalised his look for his character at a look test, which was reportedly in early–August at a studio in Chennai. Pooja Hegde was confirmed as the female lead, in her second collaboration with Vijay after Beast (2022) also marking her fourth Tamil film after Mugamoodi (2012), Beast and Retro (2025). She would be reportedly receiving a ₹6 crore (US$700,000) remuneration. Hegde's statement after the formal launch, "Halamithi and Habibo Reunites", a reference to the first single from Beast, "Arabic Kuthu", went viral on social media. Hindi actor Bobby Deol was confirmed to play the main antagonist, in his second Tamil film following Kanguva (2024). He would be reportedly receiving ₹5 crore (US$580,000) for his remuneration.
Gautham Vasudev Menon, Narain, Priyamani, Prakash Raj, and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar would play prominent roles. Menon would make his second collaboration with Vijay after Leo (2023), while Raj would also collaborate with the actor for the seventh time, after namely working together in Ghilli (2004) and Varisu (2023). Malayalam actress Mamitha Baiju would make her Tamil sophomore after Rebel (2024) with this film. All of their inclusions were confirmed by the production house in early-October 2024. Monisha Blessy was featured in the muhurat puja, thereby confirming her inclusion. Teejay Arunasalam joined the film in a prominent role, while Reba Monica John was also cast in a prominent role. During the promotions of Bhairathi Ranagal (2024), Shiva Rajkumar stated that he was approached by Vinoth for an important role, but the offer was soon after withdrawn due to reasons unknown.
Principal photography began with the first schedule on 5 October 2024 at Prasad Studios in Chennai. Filming started with a song sequence, picturised on Vijay and Pooja featuring 500 background artists under the choreography by Sekhar, at a massively erected set which was built prior to the filming's commencement, in September, under the supervision by V. Selvakumar. The song sequence completed filming on 10 October. After that, Vinoth reportedly completed some portions in 8 days, which were supposed to take 10 days. Initially, the second schedule was planned to take place in Hyderabad, but the production remained in Chennai at the request of Vijay. The team erected a huge set in Payanoor near Chennai for the second schedule. After Vijay completed his political commitments, the schedule commenced on 4 November. Vijay and Hegde joined the schedule in Chennai.
During this schedule, Vijay and Vinoth met with the jawans and their families at the Officers Training Academy in Chennai. In mid November, shooting happened at AVIT, Vinayaka Mission Law College, Chennai. Later the production moved to Thiruporur, where a set was erected for action sequences. After a reported seven days of rehearsals in late November, production resumed at a constructed set in Chennai with an action sequence between Vijay and Deol, which lasted for three weeks. Hegde simultaneously filmed her portions in this schedule while filming her portions for Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, which were completed by 3 December. Vijay and Hegde resumed the shooting in mid December which reportedly went for a week. The second schedule was completed on 21 December at a beach in Chennai. Reportedly, 40% of the film's shooting had been completed by schedule.
The third schedule was reported to begin from second week of January 2025 after a short break for the New Year’s, but did not happen. The same month, Pinkvilla reported that the makers were planning on completing filming by May 2025 so that Vijay could focus on his political commitments. In late January, the production house stated that around 69% of the filming was completed. After the set work completion, the third schedule began in early-February 2025 in Chennai. During the schedule, Vijay met his fan Unnikannan on the sets who had walked from Kerala to meet the actor. Action sequences featuring Vijay, Deol and Prakash Raj was shot in this schedule. In mid-February 2025, shooting took place on the outskirts of Chennai. In late February, Vijay took a break from filming to focus on his political commitments. On 8 March 2025, Vijay uploaded a video from the sets, wishing women a happy International Women's Day. The same month, it was reported a sequence featuring directors Lokesh Kanagaraj, Nelson Dilipkumar and Atlee in cameo appearances was shot.
The final schedule began in late March at Chennai.
The visual effects supervision for the film was provided by Monesh H, with Prasath Somasekar serving as the colourist under Knack Studios, which handled the digital intermediate of the film. Pradeep E. Ragav serves as the film’s editor.
The soundtrack is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, in his fifth collaboration with Vijay after Kaththi (2014), Master (2021), Beast (2022) and Leo (2023); maiden with H. Vinoth. The audio rights were acquired by T-Series for ₹35 crore (US$4.1 million), highest for a Tamil film. It marks T-Series' third album with Anirudh after Jawan (2023) and Devara (2024), both non-Tamil language films.
Compositions for the film's music began in September 2024. Vijay was reported to sing one of the tracks in the album, his subsequent fifth collaboration with Anirudh as a singer, after "Selfie Pulla" from Kaththi, "Kutti Story" from Master, "Jolly O Gymkhana" from Beast and "Naa Ready" from Leo. The song would have rap written and performed by Asal Kolaar.
The film's first look poster was released on 26 January 2025, revealing the film's title. The poster, which shows Vijay's character taking a selfie, was inspired by a real selfie that Vijay took in Neyveli during the production of Master in February 2020. Another poster released later the same day has him holding a whip, and the caption "Naan Aanai Ittaal", referencing the song from Enga Veettu Pillai (1965). On 24 March, the makers announced the release date with a poster.
Jana Nayagan was initially scheduled to be released theatrically in October 2025, but was postponed. It is now scheduled to be released on 9 January 2026, coinciding with Pongal. Apart from its original Tamil language, it is also scheduled to be released in Telugu, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam languages.
Seven Screen Studio reportedly acquired the Tamil Nadu theatrical rights for ₹100 crore (US$12 million). The overseas distribution rights were sold to Phars Film for ₹78 crore (US$9.1 million), making it the highest amount ever for the overseas distribution rights of a Tamil-language film. The distribution rights for Europe territories were acquired by 4 Seasons Creations, while Boleyn Cinemas will distribute the film across the United Kingdom.
The film's digital rights for Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada versions are acquired by Amazon Prime Video for ₹121 crore (US$14 million), highest for a Tamil film. The streaming rights were sold for a record price in March 2025, despite the ongoing crashing in the Indian streaming market. The Hindi version of the film will start streaming digitally only after its 8-week theatrical release. Sun TV acquired the satellite rights of the Tamil version for ₹68 crore (US$7.9 million).
The film's tentative title inspired another film to have the title Vijay 69 (2024), starring Anupam Kher. While some felt that Kher's film was given this title to promote it, Kher revealed that he received many likes within seconds when he shared the motion poster of the film.