‘Showing Congress in poor light' — Why Tamil Nadu Youth Congress is eyeing a ban on Sivakarthikeyan's film Parasakthi?

The Tamil Nadu Youth Congress has called for a ban on actor Sivakarthikeyan’s newly released film Parasakthi, alleging that it distorts historical events related to the Congress and portrays the party in a “poor light”.

The film, which focuses on the student movement and anti-Hindi agitations of the 1960s, was released in theatres on January 10. It underwent 25 cuts by the censor board, with some scenes marked as fictional.

In a post on X, Tamil Nadu Youth Congress said, “For those who have watched the movie and told me there are historical inaccuracies that show Congress in a poor light. Here you go.”

Here's what the post said

The Tamil Nadu Youth Congress allege as some of the major condemnable scenes in the film.

“In 1965, the Congress government never officially announced that Post Office forms must be filled only in Hindi across all states. This is a complete fabrication deliberately created to malign our party,” the statement added.

The statement said the film’s makers appeared ignorant of the law, which does not allow fictional depictions of deceased national leaders in events that never took place. It accused the team of irresponsibly inventing scenes with no historical basis.

Taking this distortion even further, the film falsely shows Indira Gandhi visiting Coimbatore on 12 February 1965, a visit that never took place. It then fabricates scenes of a train being set on fire in her presence and portrays her as accepting signatures against Hindi imposition. None of these events ever happened in history, and depicting them is highly condemnable, the statement added.

Apart from this, scenes showing the burning of the Congress flag have also been forcibly inserted into the film. In totality, this entire film is built on the filmmakers' own fabricated imagination and is completely contrary to historical truth, with the sole intention of attacking the Indian National Congress through lies and distortions. All scenes in Parasakthi movie that depict events which never occurred in history must be removed immediately. The film's production team must issue a public apology. Failing this, strict legal action will be initiated against the filmmakers, the statement reads.

Parasakthi

Talking about Parasakthi, the Sivakarthikeyan starrer film faced delays due to censor issues over the past few days.

Written and directed by Sudha Kongara, the film stars Sivakarthikeyan, Ravi Mohan, Atharvaa, and Sreeleela in the lead roles. The film's trailer was unveiled recently, offering a glimpse into a politically charged story centered on Tamil Nadu's resistance to Hindi imposition.

The three-minute and sixteen-second trailer opens with Sivakarthikeyan's face-off with Ravi Mohan on the rooftop of a train. In the film, Sivakarthikeyan portrays a grounded character as a coal tosser at Indian Railways.

(With inputs from agencies)