Victory Cinema, one of Bengaluru’s popular single-screen theatres, has announced that it will not screen Jana Nayagan, the much-awaited film starring actor-politician C Joseph Vijay, citing a disagreement with the film’s makers, KVN Productions, over distribution terms.
The theatre issued a press release on Thursday, July 16, stating that negotiations with the production house had failed after the production house sought what the theatre described as “non-standard terms”.
“This was a difficult decision made only after every effort to find common ground,” the statement said, adding that despite several rounds of discussions, the two parties could not arrive at an agreement.
Jana Nayagan, which is scheduled to hit theatres on July 23, marks Vijay’s final film before his full-time transition into politics. The actor, who has announced that he will no longer act in films, is expected to draw large crowds with what is being billed as his farewell to cinema.
The release was originally expected earlier but was pushed back following delays related to the film’s certification process. The makers had to resolve issues raised during the censor certification before securing clearance for the film, leading to a postponement of its release. With the certification now complete, the film is set to release on July 23.
Sources told The News Minute that the dispute reflects the concern among single-screen theatre owners over the business model followed for major South Indian releases. Unlike several major Hindi and Hollywood studios, which generally follow a revenue-sharing model, many big-budget South Indian films are released on a fixed-rental basis, requiring theatres to pay a predetermined amount regardless of box-office performance.
According to theatre owners, while the rental model provides certainty for individual releases, revenue sharing on major films often results in higher overall earnings and helps sustain salaries, maintenance and other operating costs during lean periods with fewer releases. They argue that extending the revenue-sharing model used by multiplex chains to single-screen theatres would improve their long-term financial viability.
The disagreement over Jana Nayagan comes at a time when the film is expected to be one of the biggest Tamil releases of the year, with strong anticipation among Vijay’s fans for his final appearance on the big screen before his political career takes centre stage.