'Parasakthi' Director Sudha Kongara Moves Madras High Court Against Producers For Unpaid Dues

Six months after the release of Sudha Kongara’s Sivakarthikeyan starrer Parasakthi, the director has approached the court against the film’s production company, Dawn Pictures, for unpaid dues. According to a report by Bar and Bench, the production house needs to pay her the remaining amount of ₹8.39 crore as her remuneration for directing and writing the film. Sudha Kongara's plea in the Madras High Court also stipulates that there be a restraint on the release of the same producer Aakash Bhaskaran’s next film, Idhayam Murali, which was slated to be released on July 10. The court also said that the satellite release of the film should not be finalised until July 8.

Parasakthi was released in theatres worldwide on January 10, 2026. Starring Sivakarthikeyan, Ravi Mohan, Atharvaa, and Sreeleela—making her Tamil debut—the film plots the making of the 1965 Anti-Hindi imposition agitation in Tamil Nadu. 

Lensed by Ravi K Chandran and written by Sudha Kongara and Arjun Nadesan, the film had music by G. V. Prakash Kumar. In an earlier interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Kongara discussed the film's censorship issues. The CBFC, at the time, had asked for various cuts in the film. "Two days away from release, I got the cut list at 11 AM, and tomorrow is all I have before I cut and give the film, because the day after is the release. Where is the time to fight this cut list?" she said.

"We didn’t sleep for 70 hours. It was hell. Things like removing the word “Sirikki” was so silly, because there are songs with “Sirikki” in it. Why cut it?" she said, adding that they were careful not to attract cuts since the beginning. "None of the cuts—basically bad words and some violence—affected my film. You choose your battles wisely. I didn’t cut any scenes, except for Annadurai’s dialogue. They asked me to mute the dialogue and so, instead, I cut it."