Parasakthi, starring Sivakarthikeyan in the lead role, was released in theaters on January 10, 2026, coinciding with this year’s Pongal festival. As the film faces mixed reactions from audiences, it appears that director Sudha Kongara believes the backlash is coming from fans of Thalapathy Vijay.

Did Sudha Kongara lash out at Thalapathy Vijay’s fans?

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter India, Sudha Kongara said, “There is slander and defamation of the worst kind, hiding behind unknown IDs. We have to counter that. You wonder where it is coming from, and you know where it is coming from.”

The filmmaker further explained how a Tamil X (formerly Twitter) page, BlastingTamilCinema, had criticized the film, blaming the mixed reactions on the makers’ initial plan to clash with Jana Nayagan and suggesting that they should apologize to Thalapathy Vijay’s fans.

Recalling the post, the director quoted, “CBFC kitta certificate vangurathu perusu illa… Anna fans kitta sorry keetu, apology certificate vaangu… Innum 1 week iruku, avanga manichu vitta Parasakthi oodum.”

(It is not a big deal to get a CBFC certificate. Apologise to Anna’s fans and get an apology certificate. There is still one more week. If they forgive you, Parasakthi will run.)

More about Parasakthi

Parasakthi is a political historical drama set in 1960s Tamil Nadu and follows the story of Chezhaiyan, also known as Che, a young, peace-loving man. He works in the railways and is the sole breadwinner for his family, taking care of his younger brother, Chinna Durai, a college student and activist.

As civil conflict takes centre stage, Chinna actively fights against systemic oppression, even though his brother disagrees. However, things take a drastic turn when a ruthless police officer named Thirunaadan enters the picture, serving the government and using police brutality to suppress the protests.

Amid all this, a life-changing event leads Che to undergo a significant shift in his psyche, prompting him to stand with the protests his brother is part of. How Che’s life changes over time, his bond with his sibling, and the challenges he faces form the core of the film.

Apart from SK, the movie also stars Ravi Mohan, Sreeleela, and Atharvaa Murali as co-leads. Initially, the film was set to clash at the box office with Jana Nayagan, but the Thalapathy Vijay starrer was later postponed.

Sivakarthikeyan’s latest release, Parasakthi, is performing well at the box office. Released on Saturday, January 10, the movie grossed over Rs. 47 crore at the worldwide box office in its three days of theatrical run. A significant amount of Rs. 29.25 crore came from the domestic markets, while the movie fetched around USD 2 million from international territories. 

Though the Sivakarthikeyan movie opened on a good note, it dropped a bit too much on Monday (Day 3), when it collected Rs. 3.25 crore. The drop from Saturday is over 75 percent. There is a pre-festival effect in play, during which the box office is slow; however, the mixed reception is also contributing to this. If it’s just a pre-festival weakness, the movie will pick up once the holiday period starts, but if the reception is the issue, then the festival won’t help much.

Day-wise box office collections of Parasakthi are as follows: 

Directed by Sudha Kongara, the film got very lucky with the postponement of Thalapathy Vijay’s Jana Nayagan, getting to capitalise on the big festival for itself. The Pongal holidays start from tomorrow, during which the film should pick up well. It will be interesting to see whether the movie can actually take advantage of the festive period or not. 

Territorial breakdown of Parasakthi’s Box Office collections:-  

Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more updates. 

Disclaimer: The box office figures are compiled from various sources and our research. The figures can be approximate, and Pinkvilla does not make any claims about the authenticity of the data. However, they are adequately indicative of the box-office performance of the films in question.