Parasakthi will be respectful to the Sivaji movie, says Sivakarthikeyan’s film producer
Parasakthi will be respectful to the Sivaji movie, says Sivakarthikeyan’s film producer
Parasakthi (1952) is a Tamil film based on an eponymous play by Pavalar Balasundaram. Parasakthi film is etched in the memories of Tamil cine audience because it featured an iconic debut performance from legendary Tamil actor Sivaji Ganesan (late), and had screenplay by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi (late).
Parasakthi is directed by the Krishnan-Panju duo who were names to be reckoned with in 60’s-70’s Tamil Cinema. The cult Parasakthi produced by P. A. Perumal Mudaliar founded National Pictures, has a place in history as a movie which helped change the political trajectory in Tamil Nadu, and is even looked back as a film that enabled in overthrowing governments.
Over the course of time, Parasakthi‘s movie rights came in possession of AVM Productions, a revered production house in the Tamil film industry. Today AVM has allowed the Parasakthi film title to be used for a Sivakarthikeyan movie that also stars Ravi, Atharvaa, Sreeleela among others. Parasakthi (2025) written and directed by Sudha Kongara, tells another revolutionary story from the 60s, but is completely different from the original Sivaji movie.
Sivakarthikeyan’s Parasakthi title was revealed with a teaser on January 29, 2025, and following the same there were murmurs of dissatisfaction over an iconic title being used in a modern day hero’s film. Aakash Bhaskaran whose Dawn Pictures has produced Parasakthi has told the media, “Parasakthi will live up to the value of its title. When it comes out, it will be respectful, and won’t hurt fans of the original.”
Sivaji Ganesan starrer Parasakthi narrates the misfortunes that befall a Tamil family during World War II, with a focus on holding up a mirror to the society of its irrational beliefs and practices. Director Panju had famously admitted that Parasakthi was designed to ‘create havoc’ by stating, “Of course, Parasakthi created havoc. We were challenging the social law itself, the basic Constitution itself”.
Interestingly, Sudha Kongara has said of her Parasakthi, “It is an anti-oppression film, that’s what I like about it. For me I have to speak about it, that is my ideology. That is what I say in my films. That is my politics.” Parasakthi (2025) is based on the 1965 anti-Hindi agitation by revolutionary college students in real life Tamil Nadu.
