13th Annual Awards – 2025

Update (2324 hours, Nov. 1)

Submit your Nominations here!
Visit Awards Info page for more details.

Schedule of Events

October 31Release of Schedule of Events
November 1Start of Nomination Process
December 10Release of the list of Best 15 Movies of 2025
December 15End of Nomination Process
December 20Release of Nominees List
December 21Start of Voting Process
December 30End of Voting Process
December 31Conferment of Awards


Important Note:

Our website is still functioning without any maintenance and therefore, kindly expect delays in page updates with respect to new changes. We are trying to update the pages with new info asap.
Volunteers needed, WhatsApp: +91 88706 27354

12th Annual Awards – 2024

Important Update:

The release of Nominees list & subsequent announcement of winners are delayed due to technical reasons. Both are expected by June 2026.

Update (2324 hours, Dec. 10)

The list of Best 15 Movies of the year is released now. Click here for the list.

Update (2324 hours, Nov. 15)

Submit your Nominations here!
Visit Awards Info page for more details.

Schedule of Events

November 10Release of Schedule of Events
November 15Start of Nomination Process
December 10Release of the list of Best 15 Movies of 2024
December 15End of Nomination Process
December 20Release of Nominees List
December 21Start of Voting Process
December 30End of Voting Process
December 31Conferment of Awards


Important Note:

Our website is still functioning without any maintenance and therefore, kindly expect delays in page updates with respect to new changes. We are trying to update the pages with new info asap.
Volunteers needed, WhatsApp: +91 88706 27354

11th Annual Awards – 2023

UPDATE (2023 hours, Dec. 31, 2023)

Presenting the WINNERS: cmsatc.com/2023-awards

UPDATE (2023 hours, Dec. 20, 2023)

The Nominees List is released now. Click here for the list. Voting for the Public Picks is LIVE now. Click here to vote.

UPDATE (0010 hours, Dec. 10, 2023)

The Nomination Phase is OVER. The Nominees List will be released on Dec. 20, as scheduled.

UPDATE (0000 hours, Dec. 10, 2023)

The list of Best 15 Movies of the year is released now. Click here for the list.

UPDATE (1110 hours, Nov. 10, 2023)

The Nomination Phase is ACTIVE now. Submit your nominations here: bit.ly/cmsatc-nominations-2023

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Warm greetings to all the esteemed members of the CM’s SATC.

As we step into the second decade of the Common Man’s Standardized Awards for Tamil Cinema, we would like to thank each and everyone who supported us throughout our 10-year journey.
At this juncture, we are elated to announce that our official WhatsApp channel is live now and we request all the members to join the channel as all the important updates will be shared through the channel from this year onwards.

Coming to the business, the 11th Annual Awards is around the corner and as usual, the rituals have started already. The CM’s SATC Year is back to normal (Dec. 15/16 to Dec. 15) for this calendar year, after the last two got adjusted for the pandemic-affected period.

Here we present the schedule of events. Do join us in celebrating the best of Tamil cinema this year!

Schedule of Events

Important Note:

Our website is still functioning without any maintenance and therefore, kindly expect delays in page updates with respect to new changes. We are trying to update the pages with new info asap.

9th Annual Awards – 2020-21


UPDATE (2023 hours, June 30, 2023)

Presenting the WINNERS: cmsatc.com/2020-21-awards

UPDATE (2023 hours, June 15, 2023)

The Nominees List is released now. Click here for the list. Voting for the Public Picks is LIVE now. Click here to vote.

UPDATE (2359 hours, June 10, 2023)

The Nomination Phase is OVER. The Nominees List will be released on June 15, as scheduled.

UPDATE (2023 hours, June 10, 2023)

The list of Best 20 Movies of the years is released now. Click here for the list.

UPDATE (2023 hours, May 10, 2023)

The Nomination Phase is ACTIVE now. Here’s the link to submit nominations: bit.ly/cmsatc-nominations-2020-21

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The much-awaited 9th Annual Awards is around the corner. Yes, the Common Man’s Standardized Awards for Tamil Cinema – 2021 (for the combined years 2020 & 2021) which got delayed due to the pandemic is happening now.

Click/tap here to know what’s changed.


The list of films considered for the Awards can be found here.

Schedule of Events


Important Note:

Our website is still functioning without any maintenance and therefore, kindly expect delays in page updates with respect to new changes. We are trying to update the pages with new info asap.

10th Annual Awards – 2022

UPDATE (2022 hours, Dec. 31, 2022)

Presenting the WINNERS: cmsatc.com/2022-awards

UPDATE (2022 hours, Dec. 20, 2022)

The Nominees List is released now. Click here for the list. Voting for the Public Picks is LIVE now. Click here to vote.

UPDATE (2359 hours, Dec. 15, 2022)

The Nomination Phase is OVER. The Nominees List will be released on Dec. 20, as scheduled.

UPDATE (2022 hours, Dec. 10, 2022)

The list of Best 15 Movies of the year is released now. Click here for the list.

UPDATE (2022 hours, Nov. 15, 2022)

The Nomination Phase is ACTIVE now. Here’s the link to submit nominations: bit.ly/cmsatc-nominations-2022

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We are back after a two-year pandemic break.

Technically, this should have been the eleventh year & statistically, this should have been the ninth year — the last conferment was the 8th Annual CM’s SATC for the year 2019.

So, yes, the 9th Annual Awards would be presented later for the years 2020 & 2021 combined, as the pandemic hit period has had less number of releases. Later because the films from those two years haven’t been evaluated yet — we were against direct OTT releases then, due to various reasons.

Therefore, the 10th Annual CM’s SATC = the Common Man’s Standardized Awards for Tamil Cinema – 2022



What’s changed:

🔻We are considering ALL the films that are listed in Wiki, which includes direct OTT releases. This means we are essentially removing the clause that requires a film to have been screened in a theatre for more than 3 days outside City area.

🔻We have also reduced the minimum running length of films from 100 to 90 minutes to be eligible for consideration.

❌The third criteria remains unchanged — movies dubbed into Tamil are NOT eligible for consideration.

We are elated to add few more exclusive, ad hoc Award categories which will ensure complete evaluation of all the films and appreciation of everything that stood out among & inside them. The following 5 will take the total tally of Awards presented from 40 to 45*.

1) Best Shot/Frame

2) Best Scene Choreography — Staging

3) Best Scene Choreography — Writing

4) Best Intermission Block

5) Best Ending Block

*This addition will be applicable from the 10th Annual Awards only.

Schedule of Events



Important Note:

Our website is still functioning without any maintenance and therefore, kindly expect delays in page updates with respect to new changes. We are trying to update the pages with new info asap.

Important Notice


As the theatres all over India are closed for more than two months now due to COVID-19 pandemic, there is a stagnation in the release of films. The release of some major films have been postponed sine die and of some have been pushed to next year. At this juncture, we at the CM’s SATC are forced to take an important decision regarding the 9th Annual Awards — 2020.

We had a similar situation the year before last (2018) when Tamil cinema production was shut down for almost 2 months. But normalcy was restored soon and we had more than enough releases throughout the rest of the year. Unfortunately, the current situation is so grim that a film’s release is amongst of least priority.

We don’t, as yet, see the reopening of theatres especially in Tamilnadu, happening anytime soon. So, we have decided to spell out the cut-off date for any chance of this year’s Awards to happen. The cut-off date would be July 31, 2020. If the theatres across TN do not reopen by the date mentioned, it will be — we are extremely saddened to announce — the last nail in the coffin for this year’s Awards.

We deeply regret and share your grief of missing out on movies.

Best Of The Decade


The CM’s SATC presents the “Decade’s Best” — lists of: Best 25 Movies of the decade, Best 20 Albums of the decade, Most Celebrated / Uncelebrated Movies (15) of the decade, and the Decade’s Ten.

cmsatc.com/certified/decade-2010-19


And here are some of the stats:

~ Five women feature (either as director or screenwriter) in the combined list of 40 films that defined the past decade.


RatingDecade’s Best 25Celebrated/Uncelebrated 15
3.510
3.2531
361
2.75107
2.554
2.2502
Rating wise break-up


DirectorDecade’s Best (+) Celebrated/Uncelebrated 15Total Films Made
Mani Ratnam15
Mysskin36
Vetri Maaran34
Gautham Vasudev Menon26
Shankar04
Selvaraghavan04
Karthik Subbaraj35
Bala04
Ram13
Lakshmy Ramakrishnan14
Seenu Ramasamy14
Pa. Ranjith14
H. Vinoth03
Madhumita13
Suseenthiran112
Top Directors’ Tally


YearDecade’s Best 25Celebrated/Uncelebrated 15
201002
201111
201221
201330
201430
201512
201642
201742
201832
201943
Year wise break-up


GenreDecade’s Best 25Celebrated/Uncelebrated 15
Neo-noir3*0
Drama74
Drama, Comedy21
Drama, Thriller32
Meta, Comedy, Drama10
Drama, Romance13
Rom-com12
Romance, Drama21
Drama, Action32
Psychological Thriller10
Drama, Action Thriller10
Drama, Horror Thriller20
Comedy10
Genre wise break-up


ComposerAlbums featured in Best 20
A. R. Rahman3
Harris Jayaraj3
Mohamaad Ghibran2
Sean Roldan2
Darbuka Siva2
B. Ajaneesh Loknath1
Ilaiyaraaja1
Anirudh Ravichander1
Govind Vasantha1
D. Imman1
Santhosh Narayanan1
Pradeep Kumar1
C. Sathya1
Justin Prabhakaran1
Nivas K. Prasanna1
Composers’ Count

Song Ratings — Inferences

Here are some brief inferences from this year’s song ratings.

1. Justin Prabhakaran has clearly dominated the playlists of this year. 

2. There is an increase in usage of old songs, tunes of old songs, traditional tunes, and copyright-free folk tunes. 

3. A sort of resurrection has happened this year after the major slump in 2018 when the quality of songs plummeted.

4. Many a good songs ended up with same ratings — indicating a healthy trend — but all these songs have come from movies aplenty, which means there is a serious dearth of good song albums.

5. The descent of Ghibran! The most worrying thing. Among his 5 albums this year only 2 songs have found their way into the Top 100. Not a single song is featured in Top 50.