Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywo ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the

South Indian South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, ...

by the

Government of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature ...

. 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. 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.

Awards

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

Creative awards

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

: since 1967 * Best Director: since 1967 * Best Family Film:2000 and 2001; since 2006 * Best Film Portraying Woman in Good Light: since 1994 *

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to the ...

: since 1967 *

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

: since 1967 * Best Supporting Actor: 1968 to 1970; since 2000 * Best Supporting Actress: 1968 to 1970; since 2000 * Best Villain: since 1995 * Best Comedian: 1980 to 1982; since 1995 * Best Child Artist: 1969 and 1970; 1977 and 1978; 1990; since 1994 * Best Music Director: 1968 to 1970; 1977 to 1982; since 1988 * Best Male Playback Singer: 1968 to 1970; 1977 to 1982; since 1988 * Best Female Playback Singer: 1968 to 1970; 1977 to 1982; since 1988

Technical awards

* Best Stunt Coordinator: 1970; 1982; since 1988 * Best Art Director: since 1988 * Best Cinematographer: 1968 to 1970; 1977 to 1982; since 1988 * Best Choreographer: since 1988 * Best Audiographer: since 1988 * Best Lyricist: 1968 to 1970; 1977 to 1982; since 1988 * Best Male Dubbing Artist: since 2000 * Best Female Dubbing Artist: since 2000 * Best Editor: 1980 to 1982; since 1988 * Best Storywriter: 1968 to 1970; 1977 to 1982; since 1988 * Best Dialogue Writer: 1968 to 1970; 1977 to 1982; since 1988 * Best Make-up Artist: since 1993 * Best Costume Designer: since 1993

Special awards

* Special Prizes: since 1970 * Honorary Award: since 1988

Retired awards

* Best Male Debut – Karthik for ''

Alaigal Oivathillai ''Alaigal Oivathillai'' () is a 1981 Indian Tamil-language romance film written and directed by Bharathiraja, from a story by Manivannan. The film stars two new debutants Karthik and Radha, while Thiagarajan, Silk Smitha and Kamala Kamesh app ...

'': 1981 * Best Female Debut –

Radha Radha ( sa, राधा, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is worshiped as the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. She is the avatar of goddess Lakshmi and is also d ...

for ''Alaigal Oivathillai'': 1981

References