Everyone loves a socially committed celebrity. Today, with student protests raging across India, the youth in particular are being urged to choose their idols wisely. Jana Nayagan‘s hero ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay is not one of those mega stars who show solidarity through tweets and Instagram stories. But if you notice his films in the last decade and a half, almost all of them are commentaries on social issues and how one man can solve them for the people of Tamil Nadu.
When H. Vinoth’s film was banned by the CBFC days before its release in January 2026, it wasn’t hard to guess the reason. In an era when films are increasingly pushing certain propaganda and tweaking facts to suit their ideologies, here was a film that looked like an election manifesto. To a huge extent, it is.
The bigger question, though, is whether Vijay even needed such a push, or a campaign, if we may call it one. After all, by every measurable standard, he is India’s most saleable star. Or does Jana Nayagan contain a story that simply had to be told, regardless of its political consequences?
Based partially on the Telugu film Bhagavanth Kesari, the story follows Thalapathy Vetri Kondan (Vijay), an ex-cop who becomes the caretaker of a young girl named Viji (Lithanya and Mamitha Baiju). A feared man among local thugs, the film kicks off as the most “Vijay-est” of Vijay films, complete with a comic-action sequence inside a prison with some lovely retro references.
Thalapathy also shares a dark history with notorious international criminal John Himmler (Bobby Deol). The duo locks horns decades later when Viji inadvertently becomes a pawn in their game. Helping Thalapathy untangle the mess is Kayal (Pooja Hegde), a journalist.
Vinoth blows up the time-tested Vijay formula of mass action and social awareness into something much bigger. Inspired by the emotional core of a middle-aged man and his adoptive daughter from the 2023 Telugu hit, the film ultimately morphs into an American superhero-style saga. It is loaded with elaborate VFX, futuristic weaponry, and high-tech warfare. The only thing missing in the final act is a creature straight out of The Avengers or The Odyssey.
The first half of Jana Nayagan is rooted in the bond between Thalapathy and Viji. By design, the film becomes a women’s empowerment story, and it doesn’t miss a chance to show its male caregiver constantly encouraging his foster daughter to pursue a career in the armed forces. Kayal, although introduced through the familiar glamorous template, is an independent woman in her own right.
The film does lose a bit of steam while bringing the hero and villain back together. In the process, capable actors like Nasser and Narain are reduced to functional roles. Thankfully, this doesn’t hurt the film much because Jana Nayagan lands its interval block on a genuine high.
The latter half is where it stops being a father-daughter story and goes all out to hunt down a global crime lord. The villain here (Bobby Deol), interestingly, gets an origin story of his own, and I was reminded of the far superior Lokah: Chapter 1: Chandra. Along the way, Vinoth packs in repeated references to Tamil Nadu politics and the many ways in which ordinary people continue to be exploited.
In the age of The Kerala Story and Dhurandhar, using cinema as a tool to push a political point doesn’t feel particularly alien. In the film’s defence, Jana Nayagan is still fiction. It doesn’t point fingers at a particular religion or ideology. More importantly, it isn’t one of those films that twists facts or manufactures narratives to suit its politics. Nor does it hide where its sympathies lie. The problems it raises, however, are very real.
Whether Vijay the politician can eventually address them as an elected representative isn’t something this film needs to answer. As a political statement, or even a teaser for what’s to come, Vinoth goes all in. Sure, none of us wants a robot war in Tamil Nadu. But with Thalapathy around, even an asteroid would probably change its path and crash into the Arabian Sea just to keep “Thamizh Makkal” safe. Hypothetical, of course. But I quite enjoyed the reassurance.
As a result, from Anirudh Ravichander’s score to Sathyan Sooryan’s cinematography, everything we see and hear in Jana Nayagan is geared towards making a festival out of its hero’s final screen appearance. The score, in particular, keeps lifting the emotional punch throughout. The action choreography suits the film’s genre well, while the production design, despite relying very little on real locations, remains striking for a good part of the film.
Jana Nayagan also comes with an interesting set of supporting characters. Mamitha Baiju is confident as Viji and shares warm chemistry with Vijay. Bobby Deol gets a decent arc and does his best with the material. But the lip-sync is off in a few crucial scenes, especially when compared to his earlier outings in the south of India. Another key villain, Prakash Raj, is appropriately scheming while Pooja Hegde does exactly what the role needs her to do.
ALSO READ: ‘Master’ review – Vijay’s Pongal offering is refreshingly different
Looking at Jana Nayagan as Vijay’s last film naturally brings with it the question of whether this is the perfect farewell. Vijay has certainly delivered more vulnerable performances in the past. H. Vinoth’s screenplay also falls back on some rather primitive writing devices, with villains conveniently spelling out their meticulously laid-out plans so the hero can swoop in and foil them. It’s equally amusing when both the hero and the villain learn crucial developments from television news in an era where the media has been compromised by political interests.
That said, beyond the spectacle, Jana Nayagan arrives at a time when many young voters are genuinely fed up and calling for greater accountability. It doesn’t quite tap into the youth pulse the way Master did, but its pitch for a fair and transparent government lands remarkably close to home. The film’s direct conversation on democracy and dictatorship is among its biggest strengths.
Vinoth’s film ends with a montage of throwbacks to celebrate Vijay’s career. The glimpses of the softer, romantic lead in Kadhalukku Mariyadhai and Poove Unakkaga make you realise just how long it has been since he has done a simple love story. Now that Vijay has actually become Chief Minister, Jana Nayagan feels less like a film and more like the opening chapter of the actor’s hugely hyped political career.
Unfortunately, that’s also where the film stumbles big time. It carries the weight of all of its hero’s ambitions and responsibilities, often forgetting that it still has to work as cinema first. From women’s safety and corruption to police brutality and sex education, Vijay may well want to change the lives of his people, but does every aspiration need to find its way into one film? In trying to be a farewell, a political statement and an election manifesto all at once, Jana Nayagan ends up feeling overstuffed and in desperate need of a Pudin Hara equivalent for cinema, if such a thing existed.
Die-hard Vijay fans will embrace it because love is love. For everyone else, the nostalgic end credits leave behind a lingering feeling that one of Indian cinema’s biggest stars deserved a final film that celebrated the actor more than the politician.
VERDICT: ★★ 1/2
Read more reviews of Jana Nayagan by the Film Critics Guild HERE.
