All you need to know about 'Parasakthi', starring Sivakarthikeyan and Sreeleela

For Indian filmmakers, the Pongal festival (on January 14), also known as Makara Sankranti outside the southern state of Tamil Nadu, is a busy period. And this year is no exception.  

Thalapathy Vijay’s last movie, Jana Nayagan, which has stirred anticipation, is up against Parasakthi, directed by Sudha Kongara and stars Sivakarthikeyan, Ravi Mohan, Atharvaa and Sreeleela. 

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Box office clashes, especially during the Pongal festival, aren’t new, but this one feels different. Why and how? Khaleej Times deconstructs. 

Tell me more about Pongal clashes at the Tamil Nadu box office. 

In the past, many big movies have released simultaneously during the festival and have turned out to be hits. In 2023, Vijay’s Varisu and Ajith Kumar’s Thunivu released together, striking box office gold. A similar story played out in 2019, with Rajinikanth’s Petta and Ajith’s Viswasam being the protagonists. This year, while Jana Nayagan releases on January 9, Parasakthi hits the screens a day later.

Now tell me about Parasakthi. 

Parasakthi borrows its title from the 1952 epochal Tamil movie that made the late Sivaji Ganesan a household name. The 2026 movie stars TV anchor-turned-actor Sivakarthikeyan as its protagonist. Ravi Mohan makes his debut as the villain in the film, which also marks Sreeleela's first Tamil film. Parasakthi also features Rana Daggubati and Basil Joseph in cameos, apart from Papri Ghosh and Prakash Belawadi. Indian national award-winning musician GV Prakash Kumar, who’s also Oscar winner AR Rahman’s nephew, is the film’s composer. 

What is the movie’s theme? 

Parasakthi is a period action drama, set in the backdrop of anti-Hindi imposition and student movements in Tamil Nadu in the 1960s. Sivakarthikeyan, going by the film’s trailer, plays a railway loco pilot who too becomes a part of the movement. Ravi Mohan portrays a nefarious police officer who believes in taming such movements by hook or crook. In the 21 hours since its release on YouTube, the movie’s trailer has raked in more than 32 million views, climbing to the second spot of UAE trending charts—only behind that of Jana Nayagan. 

What is unique about this movie? 

A lot of the drama has happened before Parasakthi and Jana Nayagan are yet to screen their first shows. Take their release dates, for instance. Parasakthi was initially set to release on January 14, giving Jana Nayagan a solo five-day run at the box office. Sivakarthikeyan shares a bonhomie with Vijay: he played a cameo in Vijay’s The Greatest of All Time, in which Vijay hands him a pistol. Fans interpreted that as a passing-the-baton moment, as Vijay had announced plans to quit cinema by then. 

With Vijay floating his political party and attacking the state’s governing party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in his campaign speeches, the battleground shifted. The Sivakarthikeyan-starrer, distributed by Red Giant Movies—founded by DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin—advanced its release date to January 10. The moves have given rise to speculation that this is much more than business.

Does that mean Parasakthi is all about politics? 

No, that would mean missing the woods for the trees. Sudha Kongara, who worked as assistant director with the noted filmmaker Mani Ratnam, has won critical acclaim for Soorarai Pottru (2020), which was based on the life of India’s first low-cost airline pioneer GR Gopinath. Starring Suriya, Aparna Balamurali, Paresh Rawal, Urvashi and Mohan Babu, the film won unanimous acclaim, and a Bollywood remake in Sarfira, starring Akshay Kumar and Radhika Madan. Sudha has also directed the gritty sports drama Irudhi Suttru (Sala Khadoos in Hindi), starring Madhavan and Ritika Singh. 

The period action sets and performances by Parasakthi's actors, going by the trailer, means this is one movie that is going to compete fiercely with Jana Nayagan.

What have Parasakthi’s actors said about the release date? 

At the movie’s launch event, Sivakarthikeyan said that he explored options to postpone its release with producer Aakash Bhaskaran, but was unable to do so, given the upcoming Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and the lack of a conducive release period. According to The Times of India, he also called up Vijay’s team to discuss, when he was told that there were no hard feelings. “Vijay also sent me his regards,” the actor was quoted as saying. 

Besides Jana Nayagan, what are Parasakthi’s other competitors? 

The Telugu movies The Raja Saab, starring Prabhas, Malavika Mohanan and Sanjay Dutt; and Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu, with Chiranjeevi, Nayanthara, Daggubati Venkatesh and Catherine Tresa in the lead.