Sudha Kongara hints Vijay fans are targeting Parasakthi on social media: ‘Slandering, defamation of the worst kind’

Several fans of Vijay hit back at Sudha Kongara on social media, strongly criticising her for blaming them for the Parasakthi’s performance.

Sudha Kongara’s Parasakthi, featuring Sivakarthikeyan, Sreeleela, Ravi Mohan and Atharvaa in lead roles, hit theatres on Saturday after receiving CBFC clearance at the eleventh hour. The director has now alleged that fans of Vijay have been targeting the film online, but the actor’s fan base has pushed back strongly, refusing to shoulder the blame.

Parasakthi stars Ravi Mohan, Sivakarthikeyan, Sreeleela and Atharvaa.

Sudha Kongara slams Vijay’s fans

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Sudha Kongara shared that she had no time to challenge the CBFC’s cut list, claiming that Vijay's fans are targeting Sivakarthikeyan's film on social media.

The director spoke about what she termed a targeted online backlash against the film, which she claimed was driven by fans of actor Vijay. While she refrained from naming him directly, she alluded to the fact that his film Jana Nayagan was initially slated to clash with Parasakthi.

She said, “We have a long way to go before we take the film to where it needs to reach, and I have to do it in this day and age of marketing. Just allowing your film to speak doesn’t seem to be enough. I am hoping it takes off during the Pongal weekend, reaching more people.”

When asked about the source of the backlash, she added, “There is slandering, 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. Let me read something I saw yesterday on this X (formerly Twitter) handle BlastingTamilCinema: “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 fans of Anna – Vijay– and get that apology certificate. There is one more week. They will forgive you. Parasakthi will run).”

Vijay fans hit back

Several fans of Vijay hit back at the director on social media, strongly criticising her for blaming them for the film’s poor performance. They accused her of unfairly targeting Vijay’s fan base instead of acknowledging the film’s shortcomings.

“Blaming Vijay fans is a weak cop-out. A genuinely strong film with solid writing and conviction cannot be stopped by any individual or group. @Sudha_Kongara blaming Vijay fans instead of owning the failure is nothing but creative cowardice,” one wrote.

Vijay fans are questioning narratives, not threatening anyone. “Ma’am with due respect, please be mature enough and don’t blame Vijay fans for Parasakthi not doing so well. Social media fans are only a pinch, there is a huge wave of people who attended “The world of Parasakthi”. 5 crore people watched the trailer. We can’t take the blame,” one wrote.

About Parasakthi

Sudha Kongara’s Parasakthi, starring Sivakarthikeyan, Sreeleela, Ravi Mohan and Atharvaa in lead roles, was released in theatres on Saturday after being cleared by the CBFC at the last minute.

Parasakthi is a historical political drama directed by Sudha Kongara and produced by Aakash Bhaskaran of Dawn Pictures. It is distributed by the actor and Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister, Udhayanidhi Stalin’s Red Giant Movies. Dev Ramnath, Prithvi Rajan, Guru Somasundaram, Basil Joseph and Papri Ghosh also star in it. Set in 1960s Madras, the film follows two brothers participating in an anti-Hindi imposition agitation in Tamil Nadu.

As per Sacnilk.com, the film earned less than ₹30 crore so far. On day 1, the film collected ₹12.5 crore, on day 2, ₹10.10 crore and on day 3, ₹3 crore. On day 4, Parasakthi earned ₹2.40 crore nett in India as per early estimates.