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Company type | Limited |
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Industry | Film, television |
Founded | 1945 |
Founder | A. V. Meiyappan |
Headquarters | , India |
Area served | South India |
Products | Motion pictures, television programs |
Total assets | US$1000 million |
Website | www |
AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by A. V. Meiyappa Chettiar. It is one of the oldest studio in India. [1] [2] [3] The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi cinema. [3] AVM has introduced numerous actors in Southern industries, some of the prominent actors are Superstar Rajinikanth, Sivaji Ganesan, Rajkumar, S. S. Rajendran, Vyjayanthimala, Kamal Haasan 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. [3]
Born on 28 July 1907, Avichi Meiyappan hailed from a Nattukottai Nagarathar family of Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu. Avichi Chettiar ran a mini-department store, named AV & Sons. [4] It sold gramophone records. Meiyappan, who joined his father's shop as a teenager, and decided to produce gramophone records instead of just selling them. He came to Madras where, along with friends K. S. Narayana Iyengar, Subbaiah Chettiar and others promoted Saraswathi Stores.
AVM Productions ventured into streaming space by announcing Tamil Rockerz , a crime thriller series inspired from a real-life film piracy group, directed by Arivazhagan. [5]
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 and proved a total flop as the one that followed named Ratnavali. [6] 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, 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.
In 1940, Meiyappan produced Bhoo Kailas , a Telugu 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. [4] The film turned out to be a big hit and also won critical acclaim. Meiyappan struck gold with comedy next. Sabapathy (1941) with the saucer-eyed T. R. Ramachandran in the lead, along with Kali N. Rathnam and K. Sarangapani was a runaway success. Then came a series of hits like En Manaivi, Harishchandra (1943), Sri Valli.
The city of Madras began to feel the strains of the World War II raging on elsewhere and to reduce the exposure from Japanese bombing, Meiyappan moved his facilities to Karaikudi. 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.
Hits like Nam Iruvar (1947), Parasakthi (1952), Andha Naal (1954), and the National Award-winning Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke (1957) followed.
Meiyappan died on 12 August 1979, and after his demise his sons took over the mantle. [7]
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. [8]
In 2013, AVM led by Aruna Guhan and Aparna Guhan started producing films to be screened only on the net. [9] Their first such production was a 55-minute-film, titled Idhuvum Kadandhu Pogum. [10]
Chettinad is a region located mainly in the Sivaganga district, which was historically ruled by the Ramnad kingdom of Pandya Nadu and has a small portion extending into the Pudukottai District in Tamil Nadu, India. Karaikudi is the major town of this area and considered the urban center for Chettinad villages.
Kalathur Kannamma is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by A. Bhimsingh and written by Javar Seetharaman. The film stars Gemini Ganesh, Savitri Ganesh and Kamal Haasan. It revolves around a couple — a wealthy zamindar's son and a farmer's daughter — who are separated due to circumstances, while their innocent son is forced to grow up in an orphanage.
Thirupathi is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language masala film written and directed by Perarasu and produced by AVM Productions. The film stars Ajith Kumar, Deepu and Sadha in the lead roles, while Arun Pandian, Riyaz Khan, Sampath Raj in supporting roles.
Saravanan Surya Mani or M. Saravanan, also known as AVM Saravanan or Meiyappa Saravanan, is an Indian producer of Tamil films. His production company is AVM Productions, which was founded in 1945 by his father, the famed director-producer A. V. Meiyappan, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of Tamil cinema. He has been involved in hits such as Naanum Oru Penn, Samsaram Adhu Minsaram, Sivaji: The Boss, Vettaikaran, Minsara Kanavu, Leader and Ayan. He is the father of M. S. Guhan, another producer of movies. He owns the AVM Studios in Chennai. As a producer he won two Filmfare Awards South. He also served as the Sheriff of Madras in 1986.
Gemini is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language crime action film written and directed by Saran and produced by AVM Productions. The film stars Vikram in the title role. Whilst Kiran Rathod, Murali, Kalabhavan Mani, Vinu Chakravarthy, Manorama and Thennavan portray significant roles. Based on gang wars in Chennai, the film delves into the lives of outlaws and the roles the police and society play in their rehabilitation and acceptance.
The article speaks about the many print, television and radio networks that dominate Chennai city's mass media market.
Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar, also known as A. V. Meiyappan, A. V. Meiyappa Chettiar or AVM, was an Indian film producer, film director and screenwriter who established AVM Productions in Vadapalani, Chennai. He is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of Tamil cinema, and one of three movie moguls of the South Indian film industry along with S. S. Vasan and L. V. Prasad. His production company AVM Productions is the only production company in Kollywood to run successfully for five decades and three generations.
Naam Iruvar is a 1947 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed and produced by A. V. Meiyappan. It is based on the play Thyaga Ullam written by Pa. Neelakantan. The film stars T. R. Mahalingam and T. A. Jayalakshmi. It was released on 12 January 1947 and became a success.
Chandrabose was an Indian composer and singer. He composed music for more than 300 films between 1977 and 1995. In 2007 he made his debut on the silver screen as an actor.
The Vijay Award for Favourite film is given by STAR Vijay as part of its annual Vijay Awards ceremony for Tamil (Kollywood) films. In the first year of the awards, the all-time favourite film was chosen by viewers from any particular year, with the 1992 film Devar Magan emerging the winner. From 2007 onwards, viewers were asked to select their favourite film of the respective preceding year.
Vaazhkai (transl. Life) is a 1949 Indian Tamil-language social guidance film produced and directed by A. V. Meiyappan through AVM Productions. It stars Vyjayanthimala in her screen debut with M. S. Draupadi, T. R. Ramachandran and S. V. Sahasranamam forms an ensemble cast along with many actors appearing in other significant roles.
Sundar Rao Nadkarni was an Indian film actor, editor, cinematographer, producer and director. He was the director of the first hit film for AVM productions Bhookails in Telugu in the year 1940, and later the record-creating Tamil film Haridas.
Penn (transl. Girl) is a 1954 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written by Ra. Venkatachalam and directed by M. V. Raman. It stars Vyjayanthimala, Gemini Ganesan, S. Balachander and Anjali Devi while V. Nagayya, V. K. Ramasamy, K. N. Kamlam, K. R. Chellam and K. Sankarapani as the ensemble cast, was produce by A. V. Chettiar of AVM Productions. The score is composed by R. Sudharsanam with the lyrics by Papanasam Sivan and Udumalai Narayana Kavi, Ku. Sa. Krishnamurthy, K. P. Kamakshi and V. Seetharaman. Editing was done by K. Shankar and M. V. Raman while the camera was handled by T. Muthu Sami.
Mamilla Shailaja Priya, popularly known as Priya, is an Indian actress. She appears primarily in Telugu feature films and television soap operas, and has also acted in Hindi and Tamil language films.
S. P. Muthuraman, also referred to as SPM, is an Indian film director who works in the Tamil film industry. He has directed 72 films in Tamil. He was one of the most successful commercial directors in Tamil cinema. Initially he worked mainly with R. Muthuraman, Jaishankar, Sivaji Ganesan and went on to direct successful films with Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan.
Idhuvum Kadandhu Pogum is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by the debutants Anil Krishnan and Srihari Prabaharan. The story and screenplay were written by the latter. The film stars Shivaji Dev, Shilpa Bhatt, Ravi Raghavendra and Anusha Varma. The film's plotline is about finding a ray of light amidst a cloud of gloom and depression.
Alli Arjuna is a 1935 Indian Tamil-language Hindu mythological film produced and directed by A. V. Meiyappan in his debut. It is based on the play of the same name, revolving around Arjuna from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. The film stars K. S. Ananthanarayana Iyer and K. R. Kanthimathi Bai, and became a box-office bomb.
Anil Krish is an Indian film director and editor who works in Tamil cinema.
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