AVM Studios and AVM productions in Chennai
This article provides information about AVM Studios and AVM productions in Chennai. AVM studios are one of the most oldest and popular studios in which the movie shooting was taken place and moreover now the shooting for TV serials and TV shows are done in AVM studios. AVM productions have also given many hit movies to Tamil Film Industry.
AVM Studios and AVM productions in Chennai
Everyone knows about the specialty of the AVM studios Chennai. There is a great secret and story behind the success of the AVM studios. It is not an easy task to establish an empire like that in Chennai in the Tamil Film industry. This article will provide you details about the AVM studios and the history of success of AVM studios in Chennai. There are many historical movies in Tamil that were produced by the AVM studios. Even now the AVM studios are producing certain good movies. This article provides details about the journey of the AVM productions and AVM studio in the Tamil Film Industry. AVM - Avichi Meiyappan
28th July 1907 saw the birth of a legend, Avichi Meiyappan. Avichi Meiyappa Chettiyar was born in Karaikudi a small town in southern Tamil Nadu known for its rich heritage and unique styles of buildings. Meiyappan joined his father who ran a small departmental store which stocked and sold gramophone records which were the demand of the day, then. Avichi Meiyappan started his career at the shop at the age of thirteen. During his tenure at his fathers shop, he realized that there was more for him outside his narrow boundaries of his home town. Besides selling records made by others, he thought of pressing his own records. It was this idea which poured into the creation of Saraswathi stores by AVM on September 9th 1932 in collaboration with the German Odeon records in Madras. Saraswathi stores soon became the market leaders in South Indian records. 
Previous Ventures of AVM
The success of Saraswathi stores by AVM and the dawn of theatre (talkies) era, 1931, jolted Avichi Meiyappan to launch a production unit. He started Saraswathi sound productions and he launched his debut movie Alli Arjuna which was shot at Calcutta and became a total flop which was followed by another flop Ratnavalli. At this juncture an opportunity came by his way a tie up between Meiyappan and Jayanthilal a cinema house owner based in Bangalore. They together promoted a new company Pragathi pictures limited. He made Nanda Kumar a Marathi sequel made in Tamil in the name of Pragathi productions. It was big hit and also saw the debut of T.R. Mahalingam in Tamil. The movie was a bench mark in entire Tamil movie making industry. First movie out of the sets By AVM studios
The film 'Nandakumar' was a landmark in Tamil industry as it was the first time playback singing was sung by Lalitha Venkatraman. This was the first film of South India to be shot outside the studios and without erecting sets. Meiyappan leased Sprawling club house in Mount road and started shooting the scenes of the movie. Eventually Meiyappan's unit was shifted to another Sprawling home - Admiralty house in Adyar. This blockbuster was followed by many back to back hits from the production house. They were Bhoo Kailas, Sabapathy (1941), En Manaivi, Harishchandra, Srivalli (1943), etc.Birth of AVM Studios
During the Second World War the city of Madras felt the wrath of Japanese bombing, eventually Meiyappan moved his unit to the outskirts of his hometown Karaikudi. He took a drama auditorium along with large open area on long lease and constructed a studio in it. This marked the birth of AVM productions with AVM studios. Its birth was followed by a string of hits like Naam Iruvar (1947), Andha Naal (1954) and the national award winning Ham Paanch Ek Daal Ke (1957). In 1952, AVM studios produced the film Parasakthi which was the debut of Nadigar Tilagam Sivaji Ganesan. As the decades passed by, AVM studios saw many heroes, directors, artists rise and fall but it stayed on in its majestic best. The Undiminished fame for AVM studios
12TH August 1979 was a black day for the AVM productions. It was a day were it found its promoter attaining eternity. Avichi Meiyappan passed away on the day. After his departure his sons took over the throne of guiding the filming giants. Undoubtedly AVM productions is undeterred and continues is reign undiminished and is ever expanding. AVM doesn't only means Meiyappan's initial but also shows his hard work, dedication to the industry. Now the filming giant is administered by Meiyappan's followers and legal heirs, son M. Saravanan, grandson M.S. Guhan and great grand daughters Aruna Guhan and Aparna Guhan. AVM's tally marks stands at 176 which recognizes its achievements in a single word. Thus, AVM productions and AVM studios stands tall in the books of history as the largest and oldest filming industry in Kollywood and undoubtedly the best.
