Movie-goers flock cinemas in Tiruchi to watch Parasakthi, Jana Nayagan’s no show this Pongal disappoints fan

The Tamil period drama Parasakthi starring Sivakarthikeyan, Ravi Mohan, and Sree Leela, drew a large numbers of fans to Tiruchi’s cinemas on Saturday even as the release of the highly anticipated Vijay’s swansong project Jana Nayagan got delayed.

“We are hopeful of tiding over the disappointment caused by Jana Nayagan’s cancellation this weekend with the large footfall we are seeing for Parasakthi. We have five shows from Saturday, starting 9 a.m. Usually films do well on fan sentiment in the first two days after release; we will have to see how Parasakthi fares after Monday to assess its success during the Pongal holidays,” K. Sundaresan, general manager, LA Cinemas, told The Hindu.

Parasakthi, directed by Sudha Kongara, is based on the historical student movement against Hindi imposition in the 1960s, which changed the political landscape of Tamil Nadu. The fictional story of two brothers is set against the backdrop of student protests from 1959 to 1965.

“The fact that film lovers are willing to take a roundabout route to reach LA Maris [Fort Station road closed for bridge construction] in such large numbers indicates that watching movies in a group, in a cinema, is trendy again,” said Mr. Sundaresan.

Parasakthi was marketed with a lavish pre-release promotional campaign. Some of the film’s sets were exhibited in a school in Tiruchi, and social media handles on Saturday posted reels of fans celebrating ‘FDFS’ (first day first show) in the city by breaking coconuts at the hoardings and dancing.

With Jana Nayagan getting delayed in the crucial Pongal period, most cinemas in Tiruchi have retained earlier releases from late last year, including the Hindi film Dhurandar, and the Tamil movies Sirai, and The Raja Saab.