The Tamil Nadu elections are scheduled for April 23, and the road leading to them has been marred by inappropriate comments about actresses and delayed film releases so far. Amid this storm, a Tamil film titled TN 2026, starring Natty Natraj, is scheduled to be released on April 10. Vijay’s fans and TVK leader Aadhav Arjuna question why Jana Nayagan’s release could violate the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) but a spoof of the actor-TVK chief won’t.
Directed by actor-turned-director Umapathy, son of veteran actor-filmmaker Thambi Ramaiah, TN 2026 stars Natty, Redin Kingsley, Thambi Ramaiah, MS Baskar, Ilavarasu, Shrrita Rao, Chandini Tamilarasan, Yashika Anand, and Thalaivasal Vijay. A recently-released teaser for the film shows the protagonist, ‘Golden Star’ Gulkand Kumar, who transitions from acting to politics. Natty’s Gulkand is dressed in a white shirt and brown trousers, sports salt-and-pepper hair and even walks in a manner that many believe is a parody of Vijay.
Characters in the film mock his decision to become a politician. The teaser ends with a parody of Vijay’s well-known political slogan, “Oru sakthi parasakthi, DMK oru theeya sakthi (One is cosmic energy, DMK is an evil force).”
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) candidate Aadhav Arjuna questioned how a spoof like TN 2026 can be released but not Jana Nayagan. He spoke to the press and said, as translated by The Federal, “When Jana Nayagan can’t release, how can a politically charged film like this be released ahead of the election? They earlier released Parasakthi, which didn’t even run for a day. This will also face a similar fate.”
Fans were also up in arms about a film that, like TN 2026, they think spoofs Vijay getting a release date so close to the elections. “Just googled the movie “TN 2026” It is releasing on April 10th. Within Model code of conduct. Is this not a brazen attempt to influence voters negatively against @TVKVijayHQ?” questioned an X (formerly Twitter) user.
For the unversed, Jana Nayagan was delayed from its January 9th release due to a lack of CBFC certification. The film was sent to the revising committee following a complaint by an examining committee member. The producer, KVN Productions, approached courts but found no relief. The film cannot be released now, even if cleared by the CBFC, as the MCC has kicked in.
