A. V. Meiyappan
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.
AVM was born in Karaikudi in a well-to-do Nagarathar family. He moved to Chennai at an early age and established Saraswathi Stores which sold gramophone records. Subsequently, he entered the film industry and started directing his own films. After some initial setbacks, AVM delivered a string of hits in the early 1940s. Following the immense success of his 1947 film Nam Iruvar, AVM moved to film production and established AVM Productions in Chennai, first at Santhome and then at Kodambakkam. In 1951, AVM entered the Hindi film industry with the film Bahar starring Vyjayanthimala. By the time he died in 1979, he had produced 167 films.
Notable films produced by AVM Productions are Vazhkai, Bahar, Parasakthi, Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke, Bhookailas, Kalathur Kannamma, Server Sundaram and Major Chandrakanth. AVM also directed a number of films in the 1930s and 1940s, the notable ones being Alli Arjuna, Bhookailas, Sabapathy, Sri Valli and Nam Iruvar.
Early life
AVM was born in Karaikudi on 28 July 1907 to Nagarathar family of father Avichi Chettiar and mother Lakshmi Achi. Avichi Chettiar owned a department store called AV & Sons which sold gramophone records. At an early age, AVM envisioned better prospects in the trade of manufacturing records than simply selling them. Hence, he moved to Madras with his friends K.S. Narayan Iyengar and Subbaiah Chettiar and established a new firm called Saraswathi Stores on 9 September 1932. This new firm also manufactured gramophone records apart from selling them. In this new venture, he got excellent support from the manager K.P. Varadachari and his lawyer friend Thoothukudi Govindachari Raghavachari. Some of AVM's early productions were dramas on mythological subjects like Ramayanam.Early film career
With the dawn of the talkies, AVM established the Saraswathi Sound Productions. In 1935, AVM made his debut as a producer with the Tamil film Alli Arjuna which performed miserably at the box-office. His next venture Ratnavali was another failure. He then teamed up with Jayanthilal, a cinema house owner and promoted a new company, Pragati Pictures Ltd.In 1938, AVM bought the rights for the Tamil remake of a Marathi film on the boyhood of Lord Krishna. This film Nandakumar was an average grosser. AVM introduced a 14-year-old boy, T. R. Mahalingam, for the part of the young Lord Krishna. This young boy would later become an efficient singer turning in a number of melodious hits. Lalitha Venkataraman sang for the character Devaki making Nandakumar the first film to introduce the concept of playback singing in the Tamil film industry. Nandakumar was also one of the first Tamil movies to be shot on location as AVM leased the Club House off Mount Road in Chennai to shoot scenes without erecting sets.
AVM started his own studios in 1940 and named it Pragathi Studios. In the same year, AVM produced Bhookailas which became one of the most popular film versions of the Ramayana. The film was made in Telugu, it was a famous Kannada play and its lead actors were from Kannada cinema and it was directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni from Karnataka, who had received his training in Bombay. AVM's comedy flick Sabapathy starring T.R. Ramachandran, K. Sarangapani and Kali N. Ratnam was a runaway hit as also Poli Panchali, another comedy. Sabapathy eventually emerged as one of the greatest comedy films of the era. He followed this with another hit En Manaivi.
In 1943, he produced the film Harischandra in Kannada based on the legend of a king who attempted to kill his own son to defend justice. The next year, the film was dubbed into Tamil making it the first Indian film to be dubbed from one language to another. During the making of Sri Valli in 1945, he employed singer Periyanayaki to sing for actress Rukmini. This was AVM's second film to make use of playback. Pragati technicians worked round the clock to synchronise voice and lip. Reels were shipped back and forth in cars and trains between Madras and Karaikkudi to ensure good quality.
AVM Productions
On 14 November 1945, riding on the phenomenal success of his first few films, AVM established his new production company, AVM Productions at Santhome, Chennai. He wanted to start his studio in Kodambakkam but was unable to, due to the acute power shortage during the Second World War. Left with no other choice, AVM established his studio at his hometown of Karaikudi. AVM's first film under the banner of AVM Productions was Vedhala Ulagam.In 1947, AVM produced the film Nam Iruvar based on S. V. Sahasranamam's play of the same name. Reflecting the intense patriotic fervour and hope which engulfed the newborn nation, the film released in January 1947 after six months of shooting and was "a thundering success". The story begins with a Subramania Bharati anniversary and ends with Gandhi's 77th birthday celebrations. The success of Naam Iruvar was followed by the success of Vedhala Ulagam in 1948 and Vazhkai in 1949. Vazhkai saw the introduction of Vyjayanthimala who would later emerge as one of the top film stars of India. The film ran for 25 weeks and was released as Jeevitham in Telugu and Bahar in Hindi. With the success of Vazhkai, AVM Productions began to produce films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali and even Sinhalese. Following India's independence, the power shortages had been met and AVM studios shifted to the sprawling location in Kodambakkam chosen by AVM, in the year 1948.
The 1950s
The decade of the 1950s was a honeymoon period for AVM Productions which turned out a series of hits. The early years were marked by AVM's attempts to conquer the Hindi film industry.In 1952, AVM's Tamil film Parasakthi released in theatres all over Madras and was an instant success. With a powerful storyline and fiery dialogues by a future Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi, the film preached social revolution and questioned the authority of Hindu temple priests. Sivaji Ganesan, then a newcomer, was cast in the lead role. By the mid-1950s, he had emerged as one of the top-stars in Kollywood.
Sivaji also starred in AVM's next Tamil film Andha Naal directed by S. Balachander. The film, the first film without any songs to be released in any Indian language, was about a radio engineer who intrigues with the invading Japanese during the Second World War and is eventually killed by his wife. The style of narration had been heavily borrowed from Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon.
In 1953, AVM produced the Kannada film Jatakaphala which was dubbed into Jatakam in Tamil and Jatakaphalam in Telugu. In 1958, AVM made Bhookailas in Telugu, which triggered the "golden age of Telugu cinema". It was subsequently remade as Bhakta Ravana in Tamil and Bhakti Mahima in Hindi.
The 1960s
In 1961, AVM produced the Telugu film Papa Pariharam which was a remake of the Tamil film Pavamanippu which released in the same year. Both were directed by eminent director A. Bhimsingh and starred Shivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, Savitri and Devika. Like most of AVM's early films, Pavamanippu too had a storyline based on the Second World War.Kalathur Kannamma in 1960 saw the introduction of another star in Tamil cinema, the thespian Kamal Haasan who played an unforgettable supporting role as a young orphan. He was barely six years old at the time.
His next Tamil venture Server Sundaram featuring Nagesh, who was a budding comedian then and debutant Major Sundarrajan was a roaring success. Server Sundaram was one of Nagesh's early hits which set the pace for an illustrious career. It also launched Major Sundarrajan as a character actor in the Tamil film industry. Sundarrajan's second hit, Major Chandrakanth where his famous portrayal of title role earned him the screen name "Major" Sundarrajan was also produced by AVM.
Pavithra Prema, Penchina Prema, Naadi Aada Janme, Chitti Chellelu, Letha Manasulu and Mooga Nomu were some good Telugu films which were produced by AVM during the period. However, AVM's greatest success of the 1960s was Bhakta Prahalada which was produced in Telugu and subsequently dubbed into Tamil and Hindi. The film was based on the story of Narasimha Avatar from Hindu mythology. It was directed by Chitrapu Narayana Murthy and starred S. V. Ranga Rao as Hiranyakasyapu and Baby Rojaramani as Prahlada. Narayanmurthy had earlier directed a black-and-white version of Bhakta Prahlada in 1942 which had failed at the box-office. However, the colour version which was produced a quarter of a century later under the banner of AVM Productions was a resounding success. Of the 10 different filmised versions of the Prahlada story, the 1967 colour version remains the most famous and remembered.
Another successful film by AVM in the 1960s was the 1966 film Anbe Vaa featuring the legendary M. G. Ramachandran, Saroja Devi and Nagesh. The film was a major success and the song Rajavin Paarvai topped the charts for a long time. In 1970, AVM produced Enga Mama featuring Sivaji Ganesan. Enga Mama was a Tamil remake of the Hindi film Brahmachari produced by G. P. Sippy and performed moderately at the box-office.