overtly and covertly attacked. 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. Then he goes to give repeatedly all those economics lectures, rationalist lectures and anti-god lectures. When we see the hero doing all that, it seems as if he is portraying the lives of those who are trying to force such ideas in the ...film." For the reviewer, thus, the DMK men were living on others' sweat and preaching unacceptable subversive ideas. The magazine Sivaji praised the dialogues by Karunanidhi, and the performances of Ganesan and Sahasranamam. Controversies Post release, Parasakthi was marred by numerous controversies, and was defined as "one of the most controversial films in the history of Tamil cinema" by historian S. Theodore Baskaran. It was accused of trying to portray Brahmins in poor light. Abuse of Hindu customs and religious practices evoked strong protests from the Hindu orthodoxy. Scenes like a priest attempting to rape a woman in a temple were found to be very provocative. The social elite and members of the then ruling Congress party demanded the film to be banned. The-then Chief Minister of Madras, C. Rajagopalachari was unhappy with the extremely provocative nature of the film, but allowed it to be screened. One of the reasons stated by them was the dialogue spoken by Ganesan's character, "Just because you came around chanting names and offered flowers to the stone, would it become a god?", which was accused of "mocking the audiences." His reference to Goddess Parasakthi as a stone created a stir, and the word "stone" was eventually censored from the soundtrack. However, the given message was still "clear and the impact viral." The State Government requested the Union Government to reconsider the film certification, but they declined, due to a previous examination by a Madras intelligence officer, who stated: Legacy Parasakthi acquired cult status and changed the character of Tamil cinema. Dialogue writing was given more importance than ever before. Speeches of the film replaced traditional music of artists like M. S. Subbulakshmi, K. B. Sundarambal and others at festivities. The film also had its share in giving the DMK the necessary stimulus to overthrow the Congress party in Tamil Nadu. The dialogues became so popular that "roadside entertainers used to recite long passages