Stall release of Tamil film TN 2026, urges a litigant before Madras High Court

A public interest litigation petition has been filed in the Madras High Court seeking a direction to the Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to stall the release of Tamil movie TN 2026 until the completion of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections 2026 since the movie reportedly has several political references which could affect the outcome of the polls.

M.L. Ravi, president of Desiya Makkal Sakthi Katchi (DMSK), has filed the PIL petition. In his affidavit, the petitioner stated actor-turned-politician C. Joseph Vijay’s last movie, Jana Nayagan, had not been permitted to be released till date just because his party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) was contesting elections this year, and the release of his movie at this hour may turn out to be advantageous for him.

Contending the same yardstick should be applied to all other movies with political references, the petitioner complained the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had, nevertheless, certified TN 2026 starring Natty Natraj, M.S. Bhaskar, Thambi Ramaiah and Ilavarasu and directed by Umapathy S. Ramaiah though the movie was full of political references and criticises the current state of electoral politics.

The petitioner said, a teaser of the movie, produced by Kannan Ravi and co-produced by Deepak Ravi, had been released on YouTube on April 2, 2026 and it clearly exhibits that the movie depicts contemporary political scenario and had references to present political developments in the State. He also brought it to the notice of the court that the producers had decided to release the movie on April 10, 2026.

Listing out the grounds on which he had approached the court, the litigant said, the inaction on the part of the Election Commission of India and the CEO against the movie TN 2026 would be in violation of their constitutional mandate to conduct free and fair elections. He also contended that the movie could not be allowed to be released in theatres or in OTT when the model code of conduct is in force in Tamil Nadu.

“The respondents (ECI and CEO) have failed to exercise their constitutional powers under Article 324 of the Constitution of India to ensure free and fair election… The selective inaction, despite precedents of similar scrutiny with respect to the movie Jana Nayagan, amounts to discrimination and violates Article 14 (equality before law and equal protection of laws) of the Constitution,” the petitioner’s affidavit read.

The petitioner also said, the release of TN 2026 just a fortnight before the polling scheduled on April 23, 2026 was likely to create bias among the electorate and disturb the level playing field.