Shakthi Thirumagan

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Shakthi Thirumagan
Theatrical release poster
Directed byArun Prabu
Written byArun Prabu
Produced byFatima Vijay Antony
Meera Vijay Antony (Presenter)
Starring
CinematographyShelley R. Calist
Edited byRaymond Derrick Crasta
Dinsa
Music byVijay Antony
Production
company
Vijay Antony Film Corporation
Release date
  • 19 September 2025 (2025-09-19)
Running time
157 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Shakthi Thirumagan is a 2025 Indian Tamil-language political action thriller film written and directed by Arun Prabu, starring Vijay Antony in the lead role,[1] alongside Sunil Kripalani, Trupthi Ravindra, Krish Hassan, Vagai Chandrasekhar, Cell Murugan and others in supporting roles. The film is scored and produced by Antony himself under his Vijay Antony Film Corporation banner.

Shakthi Thirumagan was released in theatres on 19 September 2025 and opened to positive reviews from critics and audiences.

Plot

[edit]

In 1989, an influential government lobby agent Abhyankkar Srinivasa Swamy pressures authorities to cover up the rape and murder of a tribal woman due to his ties with the perpetrators, and her baby, Kittu is abandoned near a garbage dump. Currently, Kittu is a lobby agent and mediator with the Tamil Nadu government, who leverages his connections to oust a TNHRCE Minister from his post after the Minister's PA accepts a bribe of ₹4,000,000 (US$47,000) from a man for a job transfer. Kittu uses the money earned from such dealings to help those in need. Abhyankkar is now an international lobby agent, under whom Kittu is working. Abhyankkar's sister's husband, Rajagopal is a school principal and pedophile, who was responsible for a colleague's child's death and had used his influence to conceal the child's death as a suicide. Seeking revenge, Kittu bails out a young convict and has Rajagopal killed. Kittu meets Vembu, a social activist, and falls in love with her, and they soon get married.

Central Minister Latha's nephew and PA, Venkatamoorthy, approaches Kittu for help in acquiring Latha's 300-crore land and an 800-crore Japan project on that land, since Venkatamoorthy is constantly humiliated by Latha. Kittu strategizes and travels to Thanjavur to instigate the local MLA Sudharsanam against the project. Sudharsanam files a case citing environmental hazards, which earns him the ire of his party superiors. Kittu manipulates Venkatamoorthy into murdering Sudharsanam with the help of Sudharsanam's aide, Kathir. A panicked Latha seeks Abhyankkar's help, who advises Latha to transfer the land to Venkatamoorthy, as planned by Kittu, since Latha trusts only him. Latha becomes suspicious of the events unfolding around her, particularly Sudharsanam's murder and the forced transfer of her land. Following Abhyankkar's advice, Latha halts the Japan project to salvage her political image, causing the land value to plummet. As a result, Kittu is forced to refund his fees to Venkatamoorthy.

Abhyankkar discovers Kittu's involvement in manipulating Latha's land, and in the murders of Rajagopal and MLA Sudharsanam. Abhyankkar summons Ram Pandey from the Delhi Task Force to investigate Kittu's dealings and retrieve the money, but Kittu manages to escape. The investigation has uncovered evidence of approximately ₹6,236,000,000 (US$74 million) in cash, allegedly earned as brokerage. Kittu, his assistant Maaran, and his wife Vembu are eventually nabbed and tortured for information about the money. However, they refuse to disclose any information. As the investigation progresses, hundreds of crores of unaccounted money that were transferred via small banks from Kittu for various philanthropic purposes, such as providing financial assitance to farmers, fishermen and economically backward students are revealed. Ram Pandey begins to look deeper into Kittu's background, but his past remains unrevealed.

In 1989, Subbiah, a Periyarist, rescued the infant Kittu from a dumpyard in Mayiladuthurai and raised him, instilling social progressive and reformist values against superstitions in Kittu. As Kittu grew older, he learned about his mother's rape and murder, with Abhyankkar being the mastermind. Subbiah motivated Kittu to do good for people and seek justice for his mother's death. Years passed, and in 1995, Subbiah died due to torture in police custody. With the help of villagers, Kittu moved to Madras and started working in the MLA Hostel and later in Abhyankkar's house.

Back in the present, six months have passed since the investigation into Kittu's dealings began, and the police are still unable to find any clue. However, a breakthrough comes when Ram Pandey's team retrieves ₹5,387,000,000 (US$64 million) from a dumpyard, stored in suitcases. After Kittu get tortured while in custody under the instructions of Abhyankkar, the court grants Kittu and Maaran with a conditional bail, but they have to run from court to court, attending multiple cases filed across the state. Despite most of the money being confiscated, Ram Pandey and his team suspect that there's more to Kittu's story that's yet to be revealed, and they keep him under constant surveillance. However, Kittu remains determined to do good for the people and expose Abhyankkar's true face as someone like Abhyankkar, who is cunning, casteist, and contemptuous of the poor, should not hold such a high position. Abhyankkar is revealed to have around 27 groups of institutions under his control and is playing tactical games to become the President of India, with the ruling party's support. Kittu manages to evade the surveillance team and sells his NFT cryptopunk 7435 for a staggering 23.7 million dollars at an auction. Kittu hires three associates and begins to disrupt Abhyankkar's factories using malware attacks and bombs. He also exposes Abhyankkar's cattle smuggling operation, and a raid is orchestrated at Abhyankkar's place.

Kittu asks Raja to ensure his pregnant wife Vembu's safe transportation to Nellore. Meanwhile, Abhyankkar pressures Latha to guarantee his support for his presidential candidature, prompting Latha to order Ram Pandey to arrest Kittu without a warrant. Kittu resists the police and escapes with Maaran. Nandhini, an escort aiding Kittu, sedates one of India's richest men, Feroze's son, and blackmails him to withdraw his support for Abhyankkar's presidential bid. Kittu, masked and anonymous, shares data about scams and corruption, highlighting the country's issues and loopholes exploited by individuals like Abhyankkar. Ram Pandey and the police track Kittu's location to an underground bunker in Red Hills, where he's streaming the live video, but struggle to break in. Using Kittu's evidence, Abhyankkar loses his presidential candidature, and other corrupt officials' scams are exposed. Kittu demands Abhyankkar's presence in exchange for Feroze's son's release. After an argument, Kittu kills Abhyankkar, and the military breaks into the bunker, only to find Kittu missing.

Meanwhile, Vembu has given birth to a baby. Maaran meets the district collector of their ideology and hands over the bank account to continue helping the needy. The film ends with Vembu and the newborn baby missing, but money is left for the woman who took care of them, indicating that Kittu has reunited with his family and chosen to remain hidden, evading the authorities.

Cast

[edit]
  • Vijay Antony as Kittu[2]
  • Sunil Kirpalani as Abhyankkar Srinivasa Swamy[3]
  • Vagai Chandrasekhar as Subbiah
  • Cell Murugan as Maaran
  • Trupthi Ravindra as Vembu
  • Krish Hassan as an underage convict
  • Harini Sundarrajan as Nandhini, an escort
  • Riya Jithu as a police officer
  • Shoba Viswanath as Latha, Central Minister
  • Chandru BCS as Kittu's Spy
  • Master Keshav
  • R. Aravindraj
  • Nijanthan as TNHRCE Minister's PA
  • Prashanth Parthiban as Driver Raja
  • Chandran as Abhyankkar Srinivasa Swamy's Manager

Production

[edit]

The film was officially announced on 28 January 2025 under the tentative title VA25, marking Vijay Antony's 25th film in the lead role to be directed by Aruvi (2017) and Vaazhl (2021) fame director Arun Prabu.[4] The official title of the film Shakthi Thirumagan was announced on 29 January 2025.[5] Apart from Antony, the film marks the return of actor Kannan (credited as Sunil Kirpalani) of Bharathiraja's Kadhal Oviyam (1982)[6] in an important role alongside Vagai Chandrasekhar, Cell Murugan, Trupthi Ravindra in her debut,[7] Kiran, Rini Bot, Riya Jithu, Shoba Viswanath, and child actor Master Keshav in supporting roles.[8] Kanna was credited under his real name Sunil Kirpalani.[9] The film is produced by the lead actor himself under his Vijay Antony Film Production banner[10] and also has composed the music, while Raymond Derrick Crasta was chosen as the editor and Shelley Calist as the cinematographer,[11] continuing their collaboration with Arun Prabu after Vaazhl.[12]

Music

[edit]
Shakthi Thirumagan
Soundtrack album by
Vijay Antony
GenreFeature film soundtrack
ProducerVijay Antony
Vijay Antony chronology
Maargan
(2025) 		Shakthi Thirumagan
(2025)

The soundtrack and background is scored by Vijay Antony.[13]

Release

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Shakthi Thirumagan was released in theatres on 19 September 2025 along with its dubbed versions in Telugu, Malayalam, and Hindi languages, with the Telugu-version titled Bhadrakali.[14] Earlier it was scheduled for 5 September 2025 [15]

Reception

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Abhinav Subramanian of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "The film is most engaging when it lets us watch how influence is moved from one desk to another. The issues are in the telling. At 157 minutes, the cut is restless. Even simple conversations are diced into a flurry of jump cuts, and key turns arrive with showreel sheen rather than lived-in pressure. [...] Shakthi Thirumagan is sharp, punchy, and driven by a lead who earns your attention."[16] Avinash Ramachandran of Cinema Express gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "It is actually disappointing that Shakthi Thirumagan gets affected by the curious case of the abysmal second half because a lot of things go right in the first. [...] With the film comprising a myriad of possibilities, the way everything unfolds as a boring lecture in a post-lunch session becomes its biggest undoing."[17] Anusha Sundar of OTT Play gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Shakthi Thirumagan gets one of the best written first half of the recent times. It is sleek, engaging, and believable and achieves it by doing very little show off. However, with a under utilised second half, and want to make things pious, it fails to become the masterful political thriller it sets out to be. A missed opportunity."[18] Arjun Menon of The Indian Express gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Shakthi Thirumagan is not a graceful, patient takedown of power politics because it doesn’t want to risk alienating audiences with half informed build ups and suggestive storytelling. [...] But the film ends up being a more detail oriented update of a Shankar film that doesn’t break any new ground, but is satisfied with the rousing, preachy political sloganeering."[19] Bhuvanesh Chandar of The Hindu wrote "Arun Prabu Purushothaman’s ambitious film could have become a generation-defining political thriller had it sustained the beat and style of storytelling that it initially promised."[20]

Title disputes

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On 29 January 2025, it was announced that Sudha Kongara's next directorial film was titled Parasakthi, while earlier on the same day Vijay Antony's 25th film directed by Arun Prabu was titled Shakthi Thirumagan in the original Tamil version and Parasakthi for its Telugu dubbed version.[21] Antony releases a press statement that he had already registered the title with the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce in July 2024.[22] But the 1952 film Parasakthi's original title holder AVM Productions clarified that they had officially granted the rights to use the title to Dawn Pictures.[23] The makers of Antony’s film and Dawn Pictures owner Aakash Baskaran arrived at a mutual decision, where Sivakarthikeyan's film would retain its title as Parasakthi in Tamil and Telugu languages and Antony’s film would retain its title as Parashakthi for the dubbed Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam versions, while a new title was to be decided for the Telugu version.[24][25] Later, the Telugu version was titled Bhadrakali.[26]

References

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  1. ^ "விஜய் ஆண்டனியின் சக்தித் திருமகன் படத்தின் டீசர் வெளியானது | Vijay Antony's Sakthi Thirumagan movie teaser released". www.maalaimalar.com (in Tamil). 12 March 2025. Archived from the original on 12 March 2025. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  2. ^ Bharat, E. T. V. (12 March 2025). "அரசியல் த்ரில்லருடன் களமிறங்கிய விஜய் ஆண்டனி... வெளியானது 'சக்தித் திருமகன்' பட டீசர்". ETV Bharat News (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 12 March 2025. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  3. ^ "Veteran actor Kannan to make his comeback with Vijay Antony's Shakthi Thirumagan". Cinema Express. 12 February 2025. Archived from the original on 1 March 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  4. ^ "Vijay Antony's 25th film titled Shakthi Thirumagan; first look out | Everything you need to know". OTTPlay. Archived from the original on 12 March 2025. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  5. ^ "'Shakthi Thirumagan': Vijay Antony teams up with 'Aruvi' director Arun Prabu for his 25th film". The Hindu. 29 January 2025. Archived from the original on 1 February 2025. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
  6. ^ "Kadhal Oviyam fame Kannan makes a comeback with Shakthi Thirumagan". The Times of India. 13 February 2025. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 14 February 2025. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  7. ^ "விஜய் ஆண்டனியின் 'சக்தித் திருமகன்' படத்தில் இணையும் புதுமுக நடிகை" [Newcomer actress to join Vijay Antony's 'Shakthi Thirumagan']. maalaimalar.com (in Tamil). 25 February 2025. Archived from the original on 23 March 2025. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  8. ^ M, Narayani (12 March 2025). "Shakthi Thirumagan Teaser: Vijay Antony plays a gangster and trickster in this neo-political drama". Cinema Express. Archived from the original on 28 March 2025. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  9. ^ "40 வருட இடைவெளி : அன்று நாயகன், இன்று வில்லன்". Dinamalar (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 21 September 2025. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
  10. ^ IANS (12 March 2025). "Vijay Antony's 25th Film 'Shakthi Thirumagan' Teaser Is Out And It's Thrilling, Watch". news.abplive.com. Archived from the original on 12 March 2025. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  11. ^ "Shakthi Thirumagan out: Vijay Antony is a hustler, gangster, and trickster in Arun Prabhu's film". OTTPlay. Archived from the original on 12 March 2025. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  12. ^ "Shakthi Thirumagan trailer: Vijay Antony is a trickster, vigilante and a wanted criminal". Cinema Express. 8 September 2025. Archived from the original on 13 September 2025. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  13. ^ B, Jayabhuvaneshwari (29 January 2025). "Vijay Antony's 25th film titled Shakthi Thirumagan". Cinema Express. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  14. ^ "Shakthi Thirumagan gets a new release date". Cinema Express. 12 August 2025. Archived from the original on 1 September 2025. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  15. ^ Mullappilly, Sreejith (10 July 2025). "Vijay Antony's Shakthi Thirumagan gets release date". Cinema Express. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  16. ^ "Shakthi Thirumagan Movie Review: Crafty revenge told with energy". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 19 September 2025. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  17. ^ Ramachandran, Avinash (19 September 2025). "Shakthi Thirumagan Movie Review: Promising political drama overpowered by preachiness". Cinema Express. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  18. ^ "Shakthi Thirumagan review: Fantastically written film with derailed second half". OTTPlay. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  19. ^ "Shakthi Thirumagan movie review: An engaging update on the Shankar template of political cinema, let down by a lackluster second half". The Indian Express. 19 September 2025. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  20. ^ Chandar, Bhuvanesh (19 September 2025). "'Shakthi Thirumagan' movie review: Vijay Antony's fantastic political premise lessens in force". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  21. ^ "Actors Sivakarthikeyan and Vijay Antony fight over Parasakthi title". India Today. 30 January 2025. Archived from the original on 31 January 2025. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  22. ^ Srinivasan, Latha (29 January 2025). "Row over Sivakarthikeyan's film Parasakthi, Vijay Antony says title is registered with him, producers counter claim". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 29 January 2025. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  23. ^ "'Parasakthi' title controversy! All you need to know about title dispute over Vijay Antony's and Sivakarthikeyan's 25th films". The Times of India. 30 January 2025. Archived from the original on 20 March 2025. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  24. ^ "Sivakarthikeyan's 'Parasakthi' makers and Vijay Antony resolve title issue; 'Shakthi Thirumagan' to get new Telugu title soon". The Hindu. 30 January 2025. Archived from the original on 11 February 2025. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  25. ^ "'Parasakthi' title controversy! Here's how Sivakarthikeyan and Vijay Antony's film found a mutual deal". The Times of India. 31 January 2025. Archived from the original on 7 February 2025. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  26. ^ Naresh, Nelki (13 March 2025). "Vijay Antony: 197 కోట్ల స్కామ్ బ‌య‌ట‌పెట్టిన ఫ్యామిలీ మ్యాన్ - విజ‌య్ ఆంటోనీ భ‌ద్ర‌కాళి టీజ‌ర్ రిలీజ్‌". Hindustan Times (in Telugu). Archived from the original on 9 August 2025. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
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