Remembering the founder of AVM Productions and AVM Studios, A.V. Meiyappan, on his 118th birth anniversary

A.V. Meiyappan Chettiyar is the founder of AVM Studios and AVM Productions, the longest surviving film production company in Kodambakkam.

Meiyappan was born in Karaikudi on 28 July 1907. His father owned a department store that also sold gramophone records.

At an early age, Meiyappan realised that there would be more profit in manufacturing gramophone records than selling them. At the age of 25, he moved to Chennai and opened Saraswathi Stores which sold and manufactured gramophone records.

In 1935, only four years after the introduction of talkies in Tamil Nadu, he turned producer through the film Alli Arjuna, but incurred a heavy financial loss. Undeterred, he persevered even after a second failure with Rathnavali.

In 1938 he tasted success with the film Nandakumar through which he introduced a new concept to Indian filmmaking – playback singing. It was also one of the first Tamil films to be filmed on location.

He enjoyed greater success with his subsequent films and this led to him founding AVM Productions on 14 November 1945. In 1947 he produced and directed Naam Iruvar which was a phenomenal success at the box-office.

This was followed by more hits like Vedhala Ulagam in 1948 and Vazhkai in 1949, the latter introducing actress Vyjayantimala to the screen, an actress who would go on to achieve national fame.

The 1950s was one of the most successful periods for Meiyappan. In 1952 he introduced Sivaji Ganesan to the screen in the hugely successful Parasakthi, scripted by M. Karunanidhi. This was closely followed by another Sivaji Ganesan starrer – Andha Naal – India’s first film without songs.

Also in the 1950s, Meiyappan made his entry to the Hindi film industry as producer of the 1951 film Bahar.

A.V. Meiyappan passed away on 12 August 1979. He had produced 167 films and introduced Sivaji Ganesan, Kamalhaasan, T.R., Vyjayantimala, T.R. Mahalingam and Major Sundarrajan to the screen.

Meiyappan’s production company, AVM Productions, continues to this day, now in the hands of the third generation.