Days after Parasakthi director described CBFC as ‘fair, democratic’, Sivakarthikeyan’s film’s censor certificate held back; release due tomorrow

Parasakthi is scheduled to release on January 10.

This Pongal season was expected to be a major box-office showdown, with two high-profile releases headlined by Tamil cinema’s biggest stars, Thalapathy Vijay and Sivakarthikeyan, poised to entertain audiences. However, the festive release slate has been thrown into uncertainty following developments involving the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Vijay’s Jana Nayagan, widely promoted as the actor’s final on-screen appearance before his full-time entry into politics, was postponed on Wednesday. Compounding the uncertainty are reports surrounding Sivakarthikeyan’s Parasakthi, which is also said to be facing certification hurdles with the CBFC, as per PTI. The lack of clarity over its clearance has raised questions about whether the film will meet its scheduled release date on January 10.

Amid these developments, filmmaker Sudha Kongara, who directed Parasakthi, had earlier spoken positively about her experience with the censor board. In a conversation with Galatta Plus, she praised the CBFC’s approach, describing it as fair and democratic based on her interactions. “When we went to the revising committee, there was this censor board head who was so democratic, so fair. One tends to think the censor board is terrible, they are this or that, they were not really. The questions they had, the reservations they had, were pretty fair. And the way they allow the film to live and breathe is very fair,” she said.

She further expressed her appreciation for the cooperation she received from the board’s leadership, adding, “Because he is a filmmaker himself and he was great to me. And I actually stood up at the end of it all and said thank you for being so democratic. I’m a big believer in democracy.”

Despite these remarks, the film’s release is reportedly in jeopardy. While Parasakthi was officially announced for a January 10 release, news agency PTI reported, on Thursday night, that the release had been held up due to delays in securing certification from the CBFC. They also noted that the uncertainty has had a ripple effect across the industry, with theatre bookings reportedly impacted in several regions. Exhibitors, it is said, have been holding back advance sales for both Parasakthi and Jana Nayagan until official clearance is granted. There has been no official confirmation or clarification from the makers of Parasakthi regarding the matter.

The situation has drawn concern from within the film fraternity. Filmmaker Karthik Subbaraj weighed in on the issue, highlighting the broader challenges facing both big-budget and independent films. In a post on X on Thursday, he wrote, “Bookings are yet to open in many centres due to the issue of certificate for other big budget film #Parasakthi slated to release day after tomorrow.” He went on to argue that the current censorship process,  particularly for large-scale releases with overseas commitments, needed greater “streamlining and flexibility.” As according to Subbaraj, film teams require at least three months of clearance time to avoid last-minute disruptions. “Otherwise, postponement of big films on festival dates will eventually kill the industry,” he remarked.