Vijay's 'Jana Nayagan' vs Sivakarthikeyan's 'Parasakthi': Pongal clash or proxy political war?

Chennai: Vijay’s Jana Nayagan (People’s Hero) versus Sivakarthikeyan’s Parasakthi.

On the face of it, it may look like a regular clash of movies between two popular stars during Pongal.

But the release of Jana Nayagan on January 9 and Parasakthi on January 10, 2026, suggests a proxy political war between Vijay and the ruling DMK.

Red Giant Movies, the production house-cum-distribution network owned by deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s son Inban, has advanced the release of Parasakthi from January 14 to January 10 after “extensive discussions” and “repeated requests” from exhibitors and distributors.

For the record, newbie politician Vijay has dubbed the April-May 2026 assembly elections as a direct fight between his fledgling Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) and DMK.

While Vijay’s movie is released through multiple distributors, Red Giant Movies, which enjoys a monopoly in the field, owns complete distribution rights for Sivakarthikeyan’s film.

The story doesn’t end there - both films have political undertones.

Jana Nayagan has been filmed to give Vijay the elevation he needs ahead of his political debut, while Parasakthi is intended to remind Tamil audiences and voters of the anti-Hindi agitation and the events that led to the rise of Dravidian politics - well timed keeping in mind the assembly elections.

Parasakthi is also the title of the 1952 cult classic that heralded the arrival of Sivaji Ganesan as an actor and M Karunanidhi as a powerful scriptwriter. An exhibition - World of Parasakthi - on the movie here became an instant hit over the weekend, generating much interest.

Jana Nayagan is billed as the swansong for Vijay as he aspires to become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, a state where politics and the film industry are intertwined.

It was initially thought Jana Nayagan would get an unprecedented welcome in theatres in a fitting farewell for Vijay’s 33-year-old celluloid journey -- on December 27, Vijay will take the stage at Kuala Lumpur at the gala audio launch of Jana Nayagan.

However, the sudden announcement made Monday night about Parasakthi’s release has triggered a frenzy among theatres to make space for both movies. It is believed that Vijay’s movie will get about 550 of the 1,000-odd screens in Tamil Nadu, while the remaining 450 will release the other film.

Social media, especially X, is already abuzz with theories being floated by Vijay’s fans who believe Jana Nayagan should get the red carpet and the release of Parasakthi should be postponed. X handles affiliated to DMK are utilizing the opportunity to take a dig at Vijay’s politics and accusing him of fearing a loss at box office by opposing the release of another film.

Tiruppur Subramaniam of the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association told DH that fans are complicating a simple issue by blowing out of proportion the release of two big movies.

“It has happened in the past and it is happening now. Since Vijay is a bigger star, his movie will get 550-600 theatres and Sivakarthikeyan will get around 450 theatres,” he said.

Film producer G Dhananjeyan told DH that it was “not fair” to target the producer, lead Actor Sivakarthikeyan and distributor of the film Parasakthi for preponing the release, as they were the first to declare it as a Pongal release for the film. 

He said it was three factors – the two week lock-in period for theatres, high terms in distribution share, and huge advance sought by distributors for Jana Nayagan in each territory – that pushed theatre owners to demand an early release of Parasakthi so that there’s competition to bring in fair play. 

“No theatre owner would want to miss out on collection from any movie and that is why they wanted both films to release around the same time. Now that it is done, the best movie will do well as Pongal holidays begin from January 14 and will last till 18th. At the end of the day, it is business and everyone wants their money back,” he added.