‘Jana Nayagan’: Vijay’s swansong film, directed by H Vinoth, gets a release date

A new poster for ‘Jana Nayagan’

The makers of Jana Nayagan, Tamil superstar Vijay’s upcoming film, announced on Monday (March 24) that the film will be released in theatres on January 14, 2026, during the festival of Pongal. Directed by H Vinoth, the film marks Vijay’s last outing before he gets into full-time politics.

KVN Productions, the banner backing the film, unveiled a new poster to announce the release date. The poster features Vijay as a mass hero in a white shirt, gesturing brightly in a sea of hands.

Details regarding the film’s plot remain unknown, however, from the promo material, the film seems to be a political actioner. The previously released first look had the star recreate his iconic selfie from the sets of Master in Neyveli in February 2020, while the second look featured the star wielding a whip, with ‘Naan Aanai Ittaal’ written as a tagline (‘Naan Aanai Ittaal’ is the iconic song of late actor-politician MG Ramachandran from his 1965 film, Enga Veettu Pillai.)

With the announcement, Jana Nayagan adds to the long list of Vijay’s films that have had a Pongal release — Coimbatore Mappillai, Kaalamellam Kaathiruppen, Kannukkul Nilavu, Friends, Thirupaachi, Aadhi, Pokkiri, Villu, Kaavalan, Nanban, Jilla, Bhairava, Master and Varisu.

Starring his Beast co-star Pooja Hegde as the female lead, the film features an ensemble star cast that includes veteran Bollywood actor Bobby Deol, Prakash Raj, Priyamani, Narain, Gautham Vasudev Menon, and Mamitha Baiju.

The film will have music composed by Anirudh Ravichander, in his fifth collaboration with Vijay after Kaththi, Master, Beast, and Leo. With Sathyan Sooriyan handling the cinematography, the film has Pradeep E Ragav as the editor, Analarasu as the stunt choreographer, and Selvakumar as the art director.

Jana Nayagan is produced by Venkat K Narayana of KVN Productions, and co-produced by Jagadish Palanisamy and Lohith NK.

Notably, Vinoth, who helmed Ajith Kumar’s Valimai and Thunivu, has joined the coveted list of a handful of directors who have made films for both Vijay and his rival Ajith Kumar — AR Murugadoss, Vasanth Sai, SJ Suryah, KS Ravikumar, Vikraman, Ezhil, AL Vijay, Perarasu, and Venkat Prabhu. Interestingly, Janaki Soundar’s 1995 film Rajavin Parvaiyile starred both the superstars

The buzz around the film has skyrocketed as Vijay announced that this will be his last outing before he gets into full-time politics. Earlier last year, Vijay took the political plunge and announced the formation of his political party Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam. Positioning himself against the politics of “corruption” and “divisiveness”, Vijay declared that his party would enter the electoral fray in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.