Pa. Ranjith (born 8 December 1982) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who primarily works in Tamil cinema.

[1] He made his directorial debut with the 2012 romantic comedy Attakathi, before earning positive reviews for his second film, the political action-drama Madras (2014).

He gained inspiration from films including The Battle of Algiers (1966), and City of God (2002), stating they changed his thinking of cinema and revealed that they had a deep impact on him.

[7] Ranjith joined the film industry as an assistant director and first worked on Shiva Shanmugam's Thagapansamy (2006), which he has since revealed as an "unmemorable stint", before moving on to apprentice under filmmaker Venkat Prabhu.

[7] Following promising pre-release reviews, the venture became bigger when production house Studio Green chose to buy the distribution rights.

"[8] Sify's critic, similarly, wrote "we recommend that you make time for this charming little treat of a film, as it has an inherent sweetness and honesty that will stay with you".

[9] Studio Green signed up Pa. Ranjith to direct a film for them and in December 2012, he confirmed that he would shortly begin work on a project titled Sarpatta Paramparai, with Karthi in the lead role, though the production was subsequently delayed and did not take off as planned.

Upon release, it received highly positive reviews from critics, who praised the performances of the actors, as well as the technical aspects of the film.

[15] Sify said, "Madras works big time as writer and director Ranjith has given priority to his script, which hooks the audiences straightaway.

[22] Under Neelam Productions, he also produced Mari Selvaraj's Pariyerum Perumal that starred Kathir and Anandhi, with music by Santhosh Narayanan.

[24] Ranjith shelved the Birsa Munda film, and wrote the script of Sarpatta Parambarai with Suriya in mind, but due to his prior commitments, he later approached Arya to play the lead role.

Set in the 1970s North Chennai, the film revolves around a clash between two clans namely Idiyappa Parambarai and Sarpatta Parambara, which also display the boxing culture in the locality and also the politics behind it.

[39] Ranjith's organisation, Neelam Cultural Centre, collaborated with the label Madras Records to form a 19-piece band called The Casteless Collective that includes four rappers, seven instrumentalists and eight gaana musicians, a popular folk music style in Tamil Nadu.

The name of the band was inspired by a phrase – "jaathi bedha matra Tamilargal" – used by Tamil anti-caste activist and writer C Iyothee Thassa Pandithar (1845-1914),[40] who was the first to moot the phrase "Jaathi Bedha Matra Tamizhargal" in the early 20th century by publishing the same in his Tamil Journal Tamizhan (1907-1914).