Major Hurdle for Sivakarthikeyan’s 25th film, “Parasakthi”

Sivakarthikeyan’s 25^th film – Parasakthi – is also facing uncertainty over its release this weekend.

The Central Board of Film Certification has recommended 23 cuts to the film before it can be passed for release. The film’s director. Sudha Kongara, has refused to implement the cuts, maintaining that the film would have a direct impact on the narrative continuity of the screenplay and would not be historically accurate. These comments suggest that the CBFC have probably targeted scenes indicating the resistance to Hindi imposition in Tamil Nadu in the 1960s.

Sudha Kongara has since approached the revising committee which is based in Mumbai. It is doubtful that the revising committee would overturn the original decisions and this is a huge blow, not only for the Parasakthi team.

As indicated in our regular feature, Cine New Bits published on 07 January, this is a sad indictment on the continued repression of artistic freedom by the CBFC and does not help the Tamil film industry that is trying to establish itself on global screens.

Apart from the reputational damage to the Tamil industry and India as a democracy, this move could indicate that this Pongal could see no major release hit the screens. Exhibitors and distributors stand to lose a fortune by this move.