Touted as ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay’s last film before he takes to politics as a full-time career, Jana Nayagan missed its Pongal release date, January 9, after failing to receive necessary certification from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). After getting a prelim okay from the certification body, the film’s makers were told that it had been referred to the revising committee based on a complaint, following which they went to Madras High Court. The court has now reserved its order but has not specified when it will be announced. As a January release seems out of question for Jana Nayagan, the makers have already said they have over Rs 500 crore at stake.

There is a long list of films that have faced trouble when it comes to their release but one seminal January release, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Rang De Basanti, can scarcely be conceived in today’s socio-political climate. Mehra, in an exclusive conversation with SCREEN, revealed that even 20 years ago, bringing the film to life was a struggle. First, securing a green light and later a release date proved difficult, as bureaucrats in the Defence Ministry raised several objections. One pivotal plot point: the assassination of the Defence Minister, intertwined with a storyline exploring large-scale corruption in the government’s acquisition of MiG fighter planes.

Reflecting on the Ministry’s reservations, Mehra recalled: “The bureaucrats at the Defence Ministry told us, ‘Don’t call a MiG a MiG, don’t call a Defence Minister a Defence Minister, you won’t get a Censor Certificate. You have to remove the scene on television where the defence minister says: “the soldiers aren’t in their senses, but high on spirit, while flying the planes.” They said you can’t do all of this. But I said, all of this is derived from real life. I have facts to support everything.”

Just like Jana Nayagan, Rang De Basanti missed its original release date and was warned that if it didn’t make all the changes, the film will get delayed. Mehra recalled that he was warned if he insisted on keeping the scenes intact, the release date could be pushed back by six weeks. “They said your film is releasing on 19th January. It will take six weeks for the film to go through the process, to clear it, and you will suffer. So I said, ‘Take six years, don’t take six weeks. We will release it after six years, it’s okay.’ But these are facts. So when we stuck to our guns, it went up to the Defence Minister and sailed through after that. Originally, it was supposed to release on 19th January, but it released on the 26th. So what happens, happens for the good, we got a Republic Day release.”

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In the same conversation, Mehra recounted the significant financial challenges the film faced even before censorship issues arose: “We were fighting for finances forever. It was just two months before shooting, and my earlier producers, one from America and one from the UK, had to be legally removed from the film because they never performed. They never showed up. They never gave the money. I kept investing my own money. That was, of course, not enough; I’m not a rich guy. Finally, we had to mortgage our office first, and then our house in Pali Hill to keep pre-production running.”

He also spoke about the constant interference from the original producers: “They kept saying, ‘Take that actor, why are you doing this? Go for a known face for this one.’ I understand collaboration, but I hate interference of any kind because that spoils the film. Not for any egotistical reason or anything. I believe there needs to be singularity in the vision.”