AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by

A. V. Meiyappan Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar (28 July 1907 – 12 August 1979), also known as A. V. Meiyappan, A. V. Meiyappa Chettiar or AVM, was an Indian film producer, director and philanthropist who established AVM Productions in Vadapalani, Chennai. He ...

. It is the final oldest survived studio in

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 ...

. The filming studios are located in

Vadapalani Vadapalani is a neighbourhood in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. It is known for its film studios and the Vadapalani Andavar Temple, which is an important pilgrimage centre. Situated in the western part of Chennai, Vadapalani is an i ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. It has produced over 300 films in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

and

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

cinema. AVM has introduced numerous actors in Southern industries, some of the prominent actors are

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji G ...

, Rajkumar, S. S. Rajendran,

Vyjayanthimala Vyjayanthimala (born 13 August 1936) is a former Indian actress, dancer and parliamentarian. She is the recipient of several accolades, including two BFJA Awards and five Filmfare Awards. She made her screen debut at the age of thirteen wit ...

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali f ...

and many more. The AVM Studios besides the shooting floors, has recording, dubbing and a preview theatre. The complex also houses facilities for production and post production processing.

Early history

Born on 28 July 1907, Avichi Meiyappan hailed from a Nattukottai Nagarathar family of Karaikkudi in Tamil Nadu. Avichi

Chettiar Chettiar (also spelt as Chetti and Chetty)is a title used by many traders, weaving, agricultural and land-owning castes in South India, especially in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. They are a subgroup of the Tamil community ...

ran a mini-department store, named AV & Sons. It sold gramophone records. Meiyappan, who joined his father's shop even as a teenager, decided to produce gramophone records instead of merely marketing them. He came to Madras where along with friends K. S. Narayana Iyengar, Subbaiah

and others promoted Saraswathi Stores. He found excellent support in K. P. Varadachari, its manager, and his lawyer friend Thoothukudi Govindachari Raghavachari he produced many records. AVM Productions ventured into OTT space by announcing

Tamil Stalkers Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

, a crime thriller inspired from a real-life film piracy group, directed by Arivazhagan.

Maiden venture

The dawn of the talkie era (1931) inspired Meiyappan to start Saraswathi Sound Productions and he launched his maiden movie venture, Alli Arjuna a Hindu mythology based movie. The film was shot in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

and proved a total flop as the one that followed named

Ratnavali ''Ratnavali'' (Precious Garland) is a Sanskrit drama about a beautiful princess named Ratnavali, and a great king named Udayana. It is attributed to the Indian emperor Harsha (606–648). It is a Natika in four acts. One of the first textual ...

. At this point, an aspiring amateur actor and college graduate A. T. Krishnaswamy joined the unit as assistant director who was associated with Meiyappan for nearly a decade and wrote and directed the early AVM productions. The reverses forced Meiyappan to lie low but only for a while. In association with Jayanthilal, a cinema house owner based in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, he promoted a new company Pragati Pictures Limited. Grabbing an opportunity that came his way, AVM made Nandakumar, Tamil version of a Marathi film launching it as a Pragati production. The highlight of this movie was the debut of T. R. Mahalingam in to Tamil movie Industry. The film was a landmark because for the first time playback singing was tried, with Lalitha Venkatraman singing for the actor who played Devaki. Meiyappan took the sprawling Club House off Mount Road on lease and shot scenes without going to studios and erecting sets. Soon after he shifted his unit to another sprawling edifice known as Admiralty House in Adyar. AVM Studios workers, Chennai

Success

In 1940, Meiyappan produced '' Bhoo Kailas'', a

mythological film which created history. Its lead players were from Telugu and Kannada cinema, and was directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni, a Mangalorean who had his training in Bombay. The film turned out to be a big hit and also won critical acclaim! Meiyappan struck gold with comedy next. ''

Sabapathy ''Sabapathy'' is a 1941 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed by A. V. Meiyappan and A. T. Krishnaswamy, and produced by Meiyappan. An adaptation of Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar's farce play of the same name, the film stars T. R. Ramachand ...

'' (1941) with the saucer-eyed

T. R. Ramachandran Thirukampuliyur Ranga Ramachandran (9 January 1917 – 30 November 1990) was an Indian actor and comedian who acted mainly in Tamil films. He was cast mostly in lead or supportive roles, especially in comical parts, from the 1940s to the 1960s. Kn ...

in the lead, along with

Kali N. Rathnam Narayana Padaiyatchi Ratnam (c. 1897 – August 1950), popularly known as "Kali" N. Ratnam, was a Tamil stage and film artist known for his roles as a comedian in Tamil movies of the 1930s and 1940s. Renowned Tamil actor and politician M. G. Ra ...

and

K. Sarangapani Kumbakonam Sarangapani (1904-1984) was an Indian actor who worked mainly 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 ...

was a runaway success. Then came a series of hits like

En Manaivi ''En Manaivi'' () is a 1942 Tamil-language film produced by Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar and directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni. Production Encouraged by the success of his comedy movie '' Sabapathy'', Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar wanted to make another ...

Harishchandra Harishchandra () is a legendary king of the Solar dynasty, who appears in several legends in texts such as the '' Aitareya Brahmana'', '' Mahabharata'', the '' Markandeya Purana'', and the '' Devi Bhagavata Purana''. The most famous of these s ...

(1943), Sri Valli. The city of

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

began to feel the strains of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

raging on elsewhere and to reduce the exposure from Japanese bombing, Meiyappan moved his facilities to

Karaikudi Karaikudi is a Greater municipality in Sivagangai district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 21st largest urban agglomeration of Tamil Nadu based on 2011 census data. It is part of the area commonly referred to as " Chettinad" and has ...

. In the outskirts of the town karaikudi he occupied a drama auditorium with a large open area around it on long lease and erected a studio. Thus was born AVM Productions with

AVM Studios AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by A. V. Meiyappan. It is the final oldest survived studio in India. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, ...

. Hits like Nam Iruvar (1947), Parasakthi (1952),

Andha Naal ''Andha Naal'' ( en, italic=yes, That Day, ) is a 1954 Indian Tamil-language mystery- thriller film, produced by A. V. Meiyappan and directed by S. Balachander. It is the first film noir in Tamil cinema, and the first Tamil film to be made ...

(1954), and the National Award-winning

Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke ''Hum Panchhi Ek Dal Ke'' () is a 1957 Indian Hindi-language film starring Romi, Satish Vyas, Mohan Choti, Daisy Irani and Jagdeep in lead roles. It won the National Film Award for Best Children's Film. Cast * Romi as Rajendranath Mehra "Ra ...

(1957) followed. Meiyappan died on 12 August 1979, and after his demise his sons took over the mantle. In 2007, AVM produced '' Sivaji'' which at 95 crore, was said to be the most expensive film ever made in the history of the Indian film industry at that time. In 2013, AVM led by Aruna Guhan and Aparna Guhan started producing films to be screened only on the net. Their first such production was a 55-minute-film, titled ''Idhuvum Kadandhu Pogum''.

Filmography

Films

Serials

Tamil Serials

*''Nimmathi Ungal Choice'' (Sun TV) *''Galatta Kudumbam'' (Sun TV) *''Aachi International'' (Sun TV) *''Gopi'' (Sun TV) *''Roja'' (Jaya TV) *''Girija M. A.'' (Jaya TV) *''Aasai'' (Sun TV) *''Vairakkiyam'' (Kalaignar) *''Take It Easy Vazhkai'' (Sun TV) *''Vaazhnthu Kaatugiren'' (Sun TV) *''Oru Pennin Kathai'' (Sun TV) *''Vairanenjam'' (Kalaignar) *''Nambikkai'' (Sun TV) *''Sorgam'' (Sun TV) *''Aval Oru Minsaram'' (Kalaignar) *''Uravukku Kai Koduppom'' (Kalaignar) *''Mohini'' (Kalaignar) *''Nimmathi'' (Sun TV) *''Naanayam'' (Sun TV) *''Sondham'' (Sun TV) *''Paasam'' (Sun TV) *''Aarthi'' (Raj TV) *''Geethanjali'' (Raj TV) *''Dhik Dhik Dhik'' (Sun TV) *''Vaazhkai'' (Sun TV) *''Savale Samaali'' (Raj TV)

Malayalam serials

*''Jeevitham'' (Surya TV)) *''Nirvathi Nirvathi Ningal choice'' (Surya TV) *''Swantham Maalotty'' (Surya TV) *''Swarna Manasu'' (Asianet)

Telugu serials

*''Aadajanma'' (Star Maa) *''Aarthi'' (ETV) *''Akka'' (Gemini TV) *''Akila'' (Gemini TV) *''Aanandam Mee choice'' (Gemini TV) *''Deivam'' (Gemini TV/Star Maa) *''Eenatti Ramayanam'' (ETV) *''Matrudevatha''(ETV) *''Jeevitham'' (Gemini TV) *''Nammakam'' (Gemini TV) *''Janaki'' (Gemini TV) *''Jyothi'' (Gemini TV) *''Swargam'' (Gemini TV) *''Paasam'' (Gemini TV) *''Aasha'' (Gemini TV) *''Samsaram'' (Star Maa/Vissa TV) *''Swanthanga Raktha Sambandham'' (Star Maa) *''Kodalu Dhithina Kapuram'' (Gemini TV)

Web series

Tamil Rockerz ''Tamil Rockerz'' is an Indian Tamil-language streaming television series written and directed by Arivazhagan Venkatachalam under the banner of AVM. The film stars Arun Vijay and Vani Bhojan. The series' story is based on the torrent site Tam ...

(Sony Liv)

Awards

Notes

References

External links

List of films produced by AVM
{{Authority control Film distributors of India Film production companies of India Film production companies based in Chennai Indian film studios Mass media companies established in 1945 Indian companies established in 1945 Producers who won the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment National Film Award Producers who won the Best Children's Film National Film Award