Parasakthi movie review: A well-crafted political drama that thrives on ideology sentiment but falls short on emotional resonance

Parasakthi movie plot:

By 1950s and 60s, India had become free from the colonial dominance, but growing Hindi imposition across Tamil Nadu prevailed. Chezhian (Sivakarthikeyan), a Railways employee who understands the difference between being anti-Hindi and anti-Hindi imposition, his brother Chinna (Atharvaa) a student leader and rebel, and Telugu descendent Rathnamala (Sreeleela) form the crux of anti-Hindi agitations. An ideology that is strongly rooted in Tamil Nadu’s political landscape, Parasakthi entails riots by young blood to assert their language, while facing opposition from a ruthless police officer Thiru (Ravi Mohan) who disses his Tamil identity.

Parasakthi movie review:

Parasakthi – the title by itself carries the weight of several threads that are deeply entrenched to Tamil Nadu’s politics and cinema. Not that the 1952 movie was just the iconic debut of Sivaji Ganesan who uttered the powerful dialogues of M Karunanidhi, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, but that it was a story of a man who was robbed, deceived and chased away at his own home as he pleaded in front of law for justice. Ironically, the 1950-60s is also the time set for the 2026 political drama Parasakthi, a film that thrives on the sumptuous period setting of the era, when the political tensions aside, the students are on the streets fighting against the impositions of Hindi. The film, with its razor-sharp dialogues, strong political homage to veterans like Karunanidhi, Annadurai, and Jawaharlal Nehru, make an impact on the ideology it wants to say, but gets loose sans emotional baggage and resonation.

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Purananooru is a student body headed by Chezhian (a toned and apt Sivakarthikeyan) which has a history of agitating against Hindi impositions. The film makes a pretty strong case why Hindi is not just a language that they need to learn, but also an obstacle that curbs their comforts of thinking in their mother tongue, a luxury that Hindi speakers get easily. Parasakthi is a film that makes a strong case about this, when Chezhian voluntarily learns Hindi after getting a posting that requires him to relocate. His ideology is simple; that one ought to learn the language of their place of working. But what happens when India gets homogenised with its one language policy, relegating the regional languages to nothing? Parasakthi takes this as its running theme, but fails to evoke the emotions even though the feeling runs within almost every non-Hindi speaker. Somewhere, its briefly touched upon when we are introduced to Thiru, a ruthless cop born to a Hindi-speaking woman and a Tamil man, out of wedlock. Him being branded as a ba****d son, makes him loathe Tamil, even as he is capable of speaking the language. That’s when Parasakthi gets somewhere near to channelling in the emotions. But despite its Tamil nationalistic pride, and strong ideology at the core, the film withers in its slow-paced narrative and indulgent scene settings.

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The symbolism and power the colour black holds, so much so that silhouette of the protagonist during a heroic moment never fades out, the implications of being called ‘Tamil fanatics’, and how a Telugu woman who voices for Tamils say that she would be on front row if her language is pushed down the throat of everyone else. These are splashes of some emotional resonance the film attempts to have, but they are only reserved in smaller quantities. But beyond, the film does not leverage to create moments that evoke a sense of immersive watching. For a film that carries themes of pride, and identity, Parasakthi becomes slow and sometimes unattachable, despite its decadent making and impactful performances. For example, as much as we see Chezhian’s motives and understandings, Chinna gets painted as a single-dimensioned rebel. A little more investment into how money orders played a crucial role in students’ lives back then, and what were repercussions of making them in Hindi, that could have had a litter more immersion and investment into their lives.

Given Parasakthi gives an initial disclaimer that it does not want to portray real-life characters, and some scenes are just picturised for the sake of the film, one cannot help notice the perfect character casting and styling to the likes of Annadurai, Indira Gandhi, Karunanidhi, Congress’ Bhaktavatsalam, all of who were pivotal political leaders during the anti-Hindi agitations. Pro being the film never veers off from its focus on student riots and their contributions to slip into political tracks, con being it seldom goes beyond taking interesting one-liners. Parasakthi does talk about the comforts of thinking in one’s language, as opposed to a foreign one, but never goes beyond just reiterating it.

Nevertheless, Parasakthi is strongly held by captivating performances of its primary star cast. A Sivakarthikeyan who showcases the strengths of patience, an Atharvaa who has an electrifying role that carries the core emotion, and Ravi Mohan who is given strong reasons for his hatred, get arcs that oozes on potentials. Sreeleela as Rathnamala gets due importance, much beyond being a lady love.

Parasakthi is well-crafted film that seeks patience with its slow-paced narrative. The emotions do not take priority, rather the concept of it and Tamil ideologies take. Not that it is unwanted, but had the film taken time to show than talk, Parasakthi would have scored much high with emotional investments.

Parasakthi movie verdict:

Parasakthi is a richly made showcase of craft and ideology, that lets its core ideology to do the emotional resonation. The sentiments are drawn purely out of the themes that the film touches up, and misses on generating efforts that would make it little more personal. Parasakthi feels distanced albeit its decadency and honesty.