Tamil Nadu State Film Awards


Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually by the Government of Tamil Nadu to recognize the best talents in the South Indian film industry. The awards were decided by a committee headed by a Judge. The awards were first given in 1967 and discontinued after 1970. The awards were resumed in 1977 and continued till 1982. The awards were not given in the years 1971 to 1976. However, in the year 1977, the awards for Best Actress and Best Actor were announced for the years 1971 to 1976 by way of honorary certificates by the government led by the then chief minister M. G. Ramachandran. Since 1988, the awards were regularly given until it became defunct in 2008.
After winning the election for the Producers Council of Tamil Cinema, the chairman Vishal revealed that he would approach the government to reinstate the awards. The awards were reinstated in July 2017 after the government announced the wins for 2009–2014. After a gap of seven years, the awards for the year 2015 were announced in March 2024.

Record Winners

ImageRecipientAwardNo. of Awards
VikramanBest Director3
Kamal HaasanBest Actor8
RajinikanthBest Actor Special Prize 2
SuriyaBest Actor Special Prize 2
JyothikaBest Actress5
BhanupriyaBest Actress Special Prize 2
NassarBest Supporting Actor3
Saranya PonvannanBest Supporting Actress2
Prakash RajBest Villain4
VadiveluBest Comedian6
A. R. RahmanMusic Direction6

Awards

Awards are given in the following categories. Follow the links for lists of the award winners, year by year.

Creative Awards

Technical Awards

Special Awards

Retired Awards

List of frequent winners

ArtistWins
K. Balachander
Kamal Haasan
Suriya
Bharathiraja
Vikraman
Prakash Raj
Rajinikanth
R. B. Choudary
Manorama
S. Janaki
A R Rahman
Vivek
Ilayaraja
Vadivelu

Most awarded films

FilmWins
Ghajini
Alaigal Oivathillai
Kannathil Muthamittal
Chinna Thambi
Kumki
Kaaviya Thalaivan
36 Vayadhinile
Soorarai Pottru
Jai Bhim