‘Parasakthi’ movie review: Sivakarthikeyan’s period Tamil drama on anti-Hindi imposition has power and purpose

The twelvemonth 2026 has not started disconnected connected a large enactment for Tamil cinema. Two much-anticipated Pongal releases – both Vijay’s Jana Nayagan and Sivakarthikeyan’s Parasakthi – person faced issues owed to immoderate points raised by the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification). With Jana Nayagan hanging successful balance,Parasakthihas released aft the makers decided to instrumentality 20-odd changes.

Even arsenic fans of cinema find this situation worrisome, what comes arsenic a suspiration of alleviation is Parasakthi’s rich, dense material. Directed by Sudha Kongara, this multi-starrer, starring Sivakarthikeyan, Atharvaa and Ravi Mohan successful pb roles, takes america backmost to the beginnings of the anti-Hindi imposition protests that happened during the 1960s.

The movie kicks disconnected with a engaged enactment block, acceptable successful a hurtling bid determination betwixt 2 stations. Inside the conveyance is Thiru (Ravi Mohan), searching for something...or someone. Outside, waiting successful the acheronian connected the tracks, is simply a determined Chezhiyan (Sivakarthikeyan). A combat follows, but Chezhiyan gets away, leaving Thiru injured.

Who is Chezhiyan and what precisely is his ‘Purananooru Squad’?

Answers prevarication successful the adjacent 162 minutes – resulting successful a movie that is terrific successful detailing and dense successful writing.

The satellite of Parasakthi is acceptable against the backdrop of the anti-Hindi imposition protests successful the Sixties, a question that would alteration the people of Tamil Nadu and respective different states successful the future. This was a clip erstwhile Hindi was acceptable to beryllium declared arsenic an authoritative language, an act, if implemented, would dramatically change the lives of those surviving successful the south.

While this reads similar a enactment from a past lesson, manager Sudha Kongara places a camera successful the mediate of each the lives that would get affected by specified a decision. A portion into the film, an aged woman heads to a station office, to nonstop a wealth bid to her grandson, lone to realise that the full signifier is successful Hindi, a connection alien to her. “They made maine - idiosyncratic who has studied till eighth people – an illiterate,” she bemoans. It’s this delectable irony that the movie wants to capture.

Doing that is Chezhiyan (a sincere Sivakarthikeyan), a firebrand rebel who, successful owed course, gets mellowed down owed to the system’s methods to woody with specified revolutionaries. Chezhiyan changes owed to a almighty incidental that occurs successful beforehand of his eyes, but that hardly matters to his younger brother, Chinna (Atharvaa), whose playful mannerisms are an perfect foil to his revolutionary quality that volition unfold arsenic clip goes by.

There’s a poignant infinitesimal successful Parasakthi erstwhile these 2 brothers realise the existent meaning of what they are warring for and however it signals anticipation to aboriginal generations. They clasp each different and hug tight, astir signifying that they person genuinely understood each other. It’s a quiescent infinitesimal that hits hard.

Parasakthi throws up galore specified quiescent moments adjacent arsenic cries of protests and revolts interruption everywhere. Like the acold Thiru (Ravi Mohan), who is arsenic determined to halt this gyration arsenic the pupil leaders are to proceed it. There’s a peculiar series successful which this coldness comes through, erstwhile helium pushes idiosyncratic into a gutter without a hint of mercy. And that...is thing that the makers could person worked connected more.

We get a batch of penetration into Thiru’s methods, but small connected the why. Why does helium person such hatred for the pro-Tamil students? A flashback oregon backmost communicative mightiness person helped, but that’s a insignificant grievance that is offset by the coagulated penning by Sudha and Arjun Nadesan. Thiru’s dialogues, comparing his comeback station wounded to the request for Tamil students to larn Hindi, are apical notch.

The emotion portions betwixt Chezhiyan and Ratnamala (Sreeleela) punctual you a spot of the Suriya-Aparna Balamurali portions successful this director’s previous, Soorarai Potru,but, erstwhile she does distant from the cutesy moments, Sreeleela excessively gets an opportune infinitesimal to denote herself, rather literally. That this heroine and 3 large Tamil heroes person truthful overmuch bureau is simply a large triumph for the director. Parasakthi is Sudha’s astir coagulated enactment truthful far.

Major contributions are besides by the euphony manager - GV Prakash, whose tunes delicately equilibrium melody and mass, based connected what unfolds connected the screen. Ravi K Chandran’s camerawork and the production/art plan sets the ocular code for the movie well, scoring particularly good during the riot scenes, which instrumentality america connected a travel to the Madras of the Sixties.

There are besides a fewer pan-India astonishment appearances that are bound to trigger excitement among theatre-goers. Parasakthi is the benignant of movie that not lone raises consciousness – the existent anti-Hindi imposition question and its heroes are chronicled successful the extremity – but besides packs successful the close elements of cinema to entertain today’s audiences.