Bengaluru, Jan. 10 -- On a day of high drama, a division bench of the Madras high court on Friday stayed, within hours of a single judge clearing it, a direction to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to grant a UA certificate to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) leader Vijay-starrer Tamil film Jana Nayagan.

The certification would have paved the way for the theatrical release of a film widely seen as the swan song of Vijay (the name by which the actor Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar is known), and believed to be thematically related to the political messaging of his party.

While the film was originally slated for release on January 9, the producers had deferred it due to the ongoing litigation. The division bench's intervention has ...