Jananayagan (2026), Politics overshadows heart

For over a year, fans of Thalapathy Vijay, in Tamil Nadu and around the world, had been waiting to watch their favourite star one last time on the big screen. Jananayagan turned out to be a politically loaded film, but as a movie, it is only average. The screenplay is convoluted, and it misses many of the familiar Vijay ingredients like romance, memorable songs and comedy. Mangoidiots gives the film a Raw rating and wishes the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu all the best in his long innings of public service.

The film opens with the hero, named TVK after Vijay‘s political party, fighting a gang of hired killers inside the Central Prison in Madurai. There he befriends the jailer. After the jailer’s sudden death, TVK, who is released shortly afterwards, takes responsibility for raising the jailer’s young daughter, Viji. His goal is to fulfil her late parents’ wish of seeing her become an Army officer, but Viji has no interest in that path. How her life unfolds should have been the film’s central story.

Instead, in its eagerness to become a political propaganda film, the screenplay moves from one issue to another. It touches upon a poor African nation, gun proliferation, women’s empowerment, good touch and bad touch education for schoolgirls, corruption at every level, theft of natural resources, drone and robot warfare, and much more.

There are a few moments that will delight Vijay‘s loyal fans, but they are far too few. At a couple of places, I did feel emotional, realising that this would be the last time we would see Vijay in a lead role on the big screen. The cameo appearances near the climax were enjoyable as well.

Apart from the theme song, Anirudh Ravichander‘s music did not leave much of an impression on me. Mamitha Baiju has made good use of the substantial role she was given. Pooja Hegde, on the other hand, has very little to do and ends up in a forgettable role. Nizhalgal Ravi looks too old to be convincing as the Inspector.

Jananayagan (2026) was easily the most anticipated Tamil film in recent years. Its makers appear to have achieved the political objective they had in mind. But as a fan of the actor Vijay, I only wish his final film had been as memorable as the many classics he gave us over the years.