Sudha Kongara wanted Abhishek Bachchan, Vijay Deverakonda’s cameo for Parashakti
Director Sudha Kongara reveals her process behind choosing cameo roles in Parashakti and details her approach, including efforts to include Abhishek Bachchan and Vijay Deverakonda.
parashaktiDirector Sudha Kongara’s historical political drama, based on the anti-Hindi movement, released in theaters on January 10 and has since started talking about both its subject matter and casting choices. The film, starring Sivakarthikeyan, Atharvaa, Sreeleela and Ravi Mohan in the lead roles, received mixed reviews upon release, but managed to make a strong impact at the box office.
In a recent interview, Sudha Kongara revealed about her original plan to introduce actors from different language industries in cameo roles in the film. He said the idea stemmed from the film’s central theme, which explores the anti-Hindi imposition movement and its wider national resonance.
Sudha said, “Initially, I wanted actors from the respective languages to represent historical figures in the film. At that time, we wanted to include many celebrities who were part of the anti-Hindi movement. In fact, I had even asked Abhishek Bachchan if he would be interested in playing a similar small role in the film.”
Whereas parashakti While Rana Daggubati, Basil Joseph and Dhananjay ultimately featured special roles – each representing different South Indian film industries – several other cameo ideas could not be executed. Sudha acknowledged that logistical and narrative constraints played a role in limiting the number of such productions.
He also took up the idea after seeing a similar concept being used in another film. “But ultimately, we couldn’t even fit in too many cameos. When such cameos were executed waterI regret how my idea was taken over by another film. But he did a very good job. It seemed appropriate for my film because it is language-based. Long ago, I had asked Vijay Deverakonda for Rana Daggubati’s Michael Reddy cameo, but he was busy Empire Shoot,” he added.
Despite the changes, Sudha said she was satisfied with how the cameo ultimately took shape, describing it as a tribute to the personalities and regions involved in the historical events depicted in the film.
Produced by Akash Bhaskaran under the Don Pictures banner, parashakti The cinematography is by Ravi K Chandran and editing is by Satish Surya. The film’s music is composed by GV Prakash, marking his 100th film as a composer. Set in 1960s Madras, the story follows two brothers involved in a movement against the imposition of Hindi in Tamil Nadu.
parashakti Vijay was initially expected to clash with Jan Nayakan during the Pongal season, but the box office clash did not materialise. Jan Naygan’s The release was delayed due to certification issues. As of now, the film has crossed the Rs 100 crore mark in global collections, emerging as a significant commercial success despite the polarized response.
