The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on April 11 dismissed claims that Tamil film Jana Nayagan had been leaked from its system as “baseless and misleading”. It asserted that its certification process followed a secure, access-controlled protocol.
The clarification came amid outrage among fans and stakeholders over the film’s alleged online leak on April 9 in high-definition format.
Explaining its process, the CBFC said that all films submitted for certification to it were secured through a Key Delivery Message (KDM) mechanism with password-protected access strictly controlled by the producer. The CBFC also clarified that the Board did not retain independent access once the Digital Cinema Package (DCP) was handed over.
According to the CBFC, the DCP of Jana Nayagan was formally handed over to the applicant in Bombay on March 17 with due acknowledgement, and had remained with the producers since then.
The big-budget Jana Nayagan, starring Vijay, surfaced online initially as a brief five-minute clip before its full version was reportedly leaked on piracy websites. The film has not yet been released in cinemas because it has not been cleared by the CBFC.