Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence inTamil cinema inIndia. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to theSouth Indianfilm industry by theGovernment of Tamil Nadu.[1] 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 given again 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.[2]
After winning the election for the Producers Council of Tamil cinema, the chairmanVishal revealed that he would approach the government to reinstate the awards.[3][4] The awards were reinstated in July 2017 after the government announced the wins for 2009–2014.[5][6] After a gap of seven years, the awards for the year 2015 were announced in March 2024.
^Anandan, ‘Film News’ (2004).Sadhanaigal Padaitha Thamizh Thiraipada Varalaru (Tamil Film History and Its Achievements). Sivagami Publications. p. 738.
