H Vinoth, director of 'Jana Nayagan', the much anticipated flick featuring Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, on Tuesday dismissed an allegation that the film was deliberately leaked months ago to help the TVK founder to win the 2026 Assembly polls and asserted that the accusation was aimed at securing political mileage.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the film's release on July 23, Vinoth, when asked about an allegation that the film was deliberately leaked to help Vijay win the polls and how he felt about it, said this accusation caused distress.
Noting that the film was produced at a huge budget of ₹400 crore, he wondered if such a big-ticket movie could be leaked.
Assuming, for the sake of argument, that it was leaked deliberately, he said that it could have been discovered in a matter of hours or days, by authorities.
Also, at the time of the leak, Vijay was not in power, he said, adding such allegations were levelled merely for the sake of political mileage and people have understood them.
When it was pointed out that the film had already been seen by about one crore people and why Vijay did not make an appeal against viewing the leaked version (at the time of leak), he said even if Vijay had responded it would have led to criticism.
"Had Vijay given an appeal, it may have been said that there are so many problems in the country, including the farmers' issue; when he did not make an appeal on such matters why was he doing it now could have been the criticism," Vinoth said, adding the leak was out-and-out a legal issue which was handled by police based on a complaint from the film producer.
"I think Vijay sir did not involve himself as it may deviate the matter and lead to criticism," he said.
To a question, he said the gap of about 6 months -- between the originally proposed release date in January, 2026 and the actual release date in July -- turned out to be a period of anguish.
"Though difficult, it is behind us now," he said.
On the film's release, he said he was very happy.
He said: "There is a sense of relief, like we have finally reached the end of a problem. And we believe we will get justice for it from the public." The film has good bookings and he said he wishes to "saluting the people."
On the film being a remake of a massive Telugu hit 'Bhagavanth Kesari' and how the Jana Nayagan version compares to the original, he told PTI Videos: "There is 50-50. There is deep sensitive politics. We took the core idea of fear from the original and explored it through a political lens and how fear functions politically; how big an issue is it for a nation and how the hero saves everyone from that forms the crux."
Hence, Jana Nayagan presents a much broader, larger-scale conflict.
To a question, he said that it was his initiative to seek a chance to direct a film with Vijay.
Vinoth said: "I reached out to Jagadish sir myself, and that is how I got the opportunity to meet Vijay sir. Until the movie was completed, everything was going happily. You know how exciting it is to watch Vijay sir act, edit those scenes, enjoy the process, and imagine how amazing it is going to be in theaters and talking about all that kept us really happy."
During the phase of "massive problems," he said he and others linked to the venture struggled immensely and were under a lot of stress.
Producers K Venkat Narayana, co-producers Jagadish and Lohith handled everything perfectly and "Vijay stood by them morally." Since they took the hit, Vinoth said he and others got an opportunity to "heal to an extent."
