Amid growing negativity over Sivakarthikeyan's latest film Parasakthi since it hit theatres on January 10, actor and creative producer of the period drama Dev Ramnath has now addressed the issue, slamming users for indulging in influencing public opinion by posting poor reviews. He hit back against a certain section of people using "old videos, shouting political slogans in theatres, and messing with Book My Show ratings."
He shared pictures and screenshots of users registering their negative reviews on various ticket booking sites and spreading hate against the film on X spaces. "Just because we’re releasing alongside your film doesn’t give you the right to sabotage ours. We announced our release date first. Did we try to stop your film? Never," he wrote on his X handle, hinting that the issue might be caused by people who were disappointed with Parasakthi releasing alongside Vijay's Jana Nayagan.
Dev noted that he was at the CBFC office everyday in Chennai and Mumbai trying to resolve censor-related issues to procure a formal certificate from the board in order to release the Sudha Kongara-directorial. "We were dealing with our censor issues just the way your team was. We got ours less than 18 hours before the release," he said, pointing to similar issues faced by the Vijay-starrer.
"You did the same to a big film last year," he remarked, before asking users to refrain from pursuing these actions further. "Talking as a cinema lover, this isn't healthy for any of us. Parasakthi is about a student movement that we tamil should pride about. We will fight this, just the way our students did," he asserted.
For the unversed, Parasakthi was granted a U/A certificate after being given 25 cuts by the CBFC. It released on Saturday, as per the makers' earlier plans, while Jana Nayagan continued to face legal hurdles, leading to its postponement from its January 9 release. The next hearing on the case is scheduled for January 20.
Parasakthi also stars Sreeleela in her Tamil debut, Ravi Mohan as the antagonist and Atharvaa in leading roles. The film's extended cast includes Kulappulli Leela, Prakash Belawadi, Dev Ramnath, Prithvi Rajan, Guru Somasundaram and Chetan, with cameo appearances from Rana Daggubati and Basil Joseph.