Earlier, we reported about the Tamil Nadu government announcing the winners of the film and television awards for the preceding years. One of the films that has been recognised at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards is Pa Ranjith's Sarpatta Parambarai, which earned Best Actor for Arya and Best Actor (Special Prize) for Pasupathy. The boxing drama, which explores caste and class divide, did not win the Best Film award. It instead went to Jai Bhim, starring Suriya and directed by TJ Gnanavel, who won Best Director. Sarpatta Parambarai also did not get recognised at the National Awards either. Perhaps this explains why director Pa Ranjith is disappointed about state and national awards, although the filmmaker did not specify the reason for his displeasure at awards in general.

In his latest social media post, following the announcement of the winners of the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, Ranjith questioned the integrity of both the state and national recognitions, as well as private award organisations. He wondered whether they operate with integrity, seemingly using a rhetoric to suggest that they lack the quality that awards are generally supposed to have.

It is also worth noting that Ranjith is a vocal critic of the MK Stalin-led government, especially with respect to issues concerning caste-based violence, Dalit rights, and policies for social justice.

The filmmaker's comments also come amid a raging debate on social media about the state jury's alleged failure to recognise director Ram's Peranbu enough. The film, directed by Ram and starring Mammootty, Anjali, and Sadhana, only won Best Cinematographer for Theni Eashwar at the state film awards. Consequently, many netizens argue that such decisions are not new in light of the political landscape of Tamil Nadu.