On the occasion of his 51st birthday on June 22, KVN Productions has unveiled The First Roar, a sneak peek at ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay’s swan song Jana Nayagan. The H Vinoth directorial is all set to be Vijay’s final film before he enters politics and his party contests the 2026 elections in Tamil Nadu.
The glimpse begins with the text on screen: “A true leader rises not for the power, but for the people.” We then see Vijay enter the frame, in a cop uniform with dark sunglasses. He wields a sword as he approaches a bunch of men in a field, parts of which are on fire. His fist is bleeding as he adjusts his moustache with the sword. The glimpse ends with the words, “Let’s rise together.”
With music by Aniriudh Ravichander, Jana Nayagan also stars Pooja Hegde, Bobby Deol, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Prakash Raj, and Priyamani among others. It marks Bobby’s second Tamil film after the actor made his Kollywood debut last year as the chief antagonist in Siva’s epic action fantasy Kanguva, in which he locked horns with Suriya.
Pooja Hegde and Vijay earlier starred together in Nelson Dilipkumar’s Beast in 2022. “As a person who loves to watch him on screen, I’m very sad. But I also support his journey. I’m rooting for him. So, more power to him,” Hegde had told PTI on Vijay’s plunge into politics after their film Jana Nayagan.
A new post of Vijay-starrer Jana Nayagan.
In February last year, Vijay announced the launch of his political party, eyeing electoral success in the 2026 Assembly elections when the term of the incumbent DMK government ends. He announced the launch of his party Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam and expressed concern over the current political situation that was fraught with “administrative deterioration,” corruption and “divisive politics,” that impeded unity.
Jana Nayagan will be released in theatres on January 9, 2026, just ahead of Makar Sankranti and Pongal (January 14, 2026). It is backed by KVN Productions. On Republic Day, 2025, Thalapathy Vijay surprised his fans by unveiling his look. The film’s first poster showed Vijay taking a selfie with a swarm of people in the backdrop.
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Vijay was last seen in Venkat Prabhu’s The Greatest Of All Time. The movie emerged as one of the highest-grossing films of 2024. The sci-fi action movie is directed by Venkat Prabhu and produced by AGS Entertainment. The story revolves around a spy’s mission that goes awry, only to resurface and haunt Vijay’s character and his family years later, revealing how they confront and resolve the problem.
