Pa. Ranjith is an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer working in Tamil cinema. His films, which explore sociopolitical issues through the lens of the disenfranchised have helped to establish a new wave of politically conscious genre films in the Tamil industry. Pa. Ranjith is often considered a 'trailblazer' in the modern Tamil cinema industry for his filmmaking and political activism. After working in the industry as an assistant director and as an apprentice under director Venkat Prabhu, he marked his directorial debut in 2012 with the romantic comedy film Attakathi, before earning unanimously positive reviews for his second film, the action drama Madras (2014). He then went on to write and direct two films starring Rajinikanth, Kabali (2016) and Kaala (2018), which brought him wider recognition, and later directed the critically acclaimed period sports action film Sarpatta Parambarai (2021) and social drama Natchathiram Nagargiradhu (2022). Ranjith has also been notable as a producer through his company Neelam Productions. He produced the critically acclaimed films Pariyerum Perumal (2018), Writer (2021), Seththumaan (2022) and Bommai Nayagi (2023).