Sudha Kongara's much-expected period political drama Parasakthi hit theatres on Saturday after battling hurdles at the censor board, similar to Vijay's Jana Nayagan. With shows available as early as 9 am in the city, many caught an early show to watch the film on the big screen. However, reviews for the film have been mixed. While many praised the film's strong storyline and period setting, some had described it as an "average" experience, criticising the movie's pace and writing.
Sharing their experience of watching the movie in theatres, several social media users heaped praise on Sivakarthikeyan's performance, with special emphasis to his "transformation" scene. A chunk of the praise, however, went for Sreeleela, who in her debut in the industry, seems to have found many fans through her strong performance. One user said, "Leela is fantastic, bringing a sense of elegance and poise to her character." Many also pointed out that the intermission scene was the highlight of the film. "SK delivers conviction through restrained acting, Leela balances emotions, natural bgm supports key moments," said another user. One person also said, "Parasakthi is a full content driven cinema." Ravi Mohan, who plays the antagonist in the film, was also appreciated for his screen presence and for channeling his villainous energy.
But the film has equally been receiving negative reviews. Users criticised the screenplay, and many stated that the pace feels "disconnected" and "slow". It has also been gaining flak for its treatment of the Hindi imposition theme, which many said that it has a "weak emotional impact."
Besides Sivakarthikeyan, Sreeleela and Ravi Mohan, the film also stars Atharvaa, Dev Ramnath, Prithvi Rajan, Guru Somasundaram, Basil Joseph, Papri Ghosh, and Rana Daggubati.
GV Prakash, whose marks his 100th album as composer with Parasakthi, has also been receiving mixed response to his music.
It is to be noted that the film was formally censored by the CBFC on Friday. It received over 25 cuts where several words and sentences were modified. Sudha has written Parasakthi along with Arjun Nadesan, with an additional screenplay by Ganeshaa and dialogues by Madhan Karky and Shan Karuppusamy. The crew of the film includes Ravi K Chandran as the cinematographer and Sathish Surya as the editor. Aakash Baskaran backed the film under his Dawn Pictures banner.
Dev Ramnath serves as the creative producer, along with MP Senthel and Rhea Kongara, who are the executive producers. Red Giant Movies is distributing the film.
