Based on Pavalar Balasundaram's play of the same name, Parasakthi narrates the misfortunes that befall the members of a Tamil family during World War II.

Parasakthi was released on 17 October 1952, during the festive occasion of Diwali, and faced controversies because of its portrayal of Brahmins and Hindu customs and practices in a negative light.

In 1942, during World War II, the three brothers and Saraswati plan to visit Madurai to attend the impending wedding of Kalyani to a writer named Thangappan.

Due to war conditions and bombardment of Burmese ports by Japan, the shipping company offers only one ticket; Gunasekaran, the youngest brother, takes it and leaves for Tamil Nadu.

The ship fails to reach on time due to the dangers of the war, and Kalyani's marriage takes place without any of her brothers present.

Impoverished, he becomes enraged at the status of the once glorious Tamil Nadu, and fakes insanity by indulging in numerous tricks to make a living.

Chandrasekaran, accompanied by Saraswati, reaches Tiruchi safely and becomes a judge, but Gnanasekaran is lost in the journey and loses a leg in the shelling before arriving in India.

At the court, Kalyani defends her act of infanticide with the judge being Chandrasekaran, who after hearing her story realises she is his sister, and faints.

As the trial proceeds, Vimala arrives and produces Kalyani's child, which was revealed to have safely fallen in her boat instead of the river.

Sivaji Ganesan, at that time a struggling stage actor, acted in En Thangai as "a brother sacrificing his love for the sake of his sightless kid sister.

[10] Ganesan, the stage actor of En Thangai was chosen to play the male lead, making his cinematic acting debut.

When shooting began and 2000 feet of the film was shot, Meiyappan was dissatisfied with Ganesan's "thin" physique, and wanted him replaced with K. R. Ramasamy.

[22] Rajasulochana was initially cast as the female lead, but opted out due to her pregnancy, and was eventually replaced by Sriranjani Jr.[23] Pandari Bai was added to the film, after Meiyappan was impressed with her performance in Raja Vikrama (1950).

[24] Poet Kannadasan declined to work as one of the film's lyricists, and instead acted in a minor role as a judge, as he was "determined to take part in the Parasakthi movie".

[25] The film's climax song "Ellorum Vazha Vendum" featured stock footage of the politicians C. Rajagopalachari, E. V. Ramasamy, M. Bhaktavatsalam, Annadurai, and Karunanidhi.

[29] The title song of the film was composed by Bharathidasan, keeping with the demand of the DMK party seeking a sovereign Dravidian nation.

The poem glorifies the utopian nature of the Dravidian nation and ends with a long monologue that grieves the present India's reality.

When the female lead Kalyani becomes pregnant, she and her husband Thangappan decide to name the child "Pannirselvam" if it is a boy, and "Nagammai" if it is a girl.

The names are references to A. T. Pannirselvam, a prominent and respected leader of the Justice Party and Nagammai, a leading activist in the Self-Respect Movement and the wife of E. V.

[32] The film deploys Kalyani's vulnerability as a widow in a hostile society, with consequent threats to her chastity, especially during the court trial scenes.

Ganesan, who enacted the role of Gunasekaran in Parasakthi, was a DMK activist in real life in 1952 and helped in propagating the theme of Dravida Nadu.

The film attempted to bring to light the alleged fraud in the name of religion and presented agnostic views, displaying a powerful critique of the Congress rule in the Madras Presidency.

The embittered and agitated reviewer further claimed, "He [the hero of the film], acting as a mad man, threatens and beats the people on the street and grabs whatever they have and eats it.

The-then Chief Minister of Madras, C. Rajagopalachari was unhappy with the extremely provocative nature of the film, but allowed it to be screened.

The film graphically describes the sufferings and hardships that a young widow with her baby in arms has to face due to poverty and how cruelly society treats her, or illtreats her.

The plot is interesting and the story has a powerful moral appeal, namely that there will be ups and downs in a man's life and that chastity is the most precious jewel of womanhood.In response to the negative review by Dinamani Kadhir that featured a poster titled Parabrahmam, Karunanidhi wrote and acted in a play of the same name along with Ganesan and other Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam members.

[77] Historian S. Muthiah said that Parasakthi "showed Karunanidhi as the master of meaningful screen dialogue that carried forceful messages to the masses".

[81] To commemorate 50 years since the release of Parasakthi, a memorial was inaugurated in AVM Studios on 17 October 2002 by Kamal Haasan in the presence of Ganesan's sons Prabhu and Ramkumar.

A slab of black granite, the memorial has on its top a brass medallion that bears a close-up of Ganesan uttering his popular opening line "Success".

[90] Actor Sivakumar stated, "You can’t reproduce movies like Parasakthi, Pasamalar, Devadas, Veerapandiya Kattabomman or Ratha Kanneer [...] By remaking such films, you are lowering yourself, while it enhances the original artists’ image.