Pasi ( transl. Hunger) is a 1979 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Durai. It stars Shoba, Vijayan and Delhi Ganesh. The film, released on 21 December 1979, won two awards each at the National Film Awards, the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, and the Filmfare Awards South. It was remade in Hindi by Durai as Pet Pyaar Aur Paap.

Mahalakshmi Menon, best known by her stagename Shobha, was an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam and Tamil films. At the age of 17, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1979 Tamil film Pasi. She also received three Kerala State Film Awards: for Best Actress (1978), Best Supporting Actress (1977) and Best Child Artist (1971); and two Filmfare Awards South for Best Actress in Kannada (1978) and Tamil (1979) films. Considered one of the finest talents to have emerged in the Indian film world, her promising career was unexpectedly cut short as she committed suicide in 1980, due to unknown reasons. Her popularity resulted in considerable public scrutiny of the events that led to her death and also various conspiracy theories. The 1983 Malayalam film Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback is supposedly based on her life and death.