This story is from June 26, 2015

As fourth generation credits roll, plot gets another twist

When publicist G H Rao fashioned the AVM mono gram in the mid-forties of the last century , he made the letters progressively bigger to signify progress and growth.
As fourth generation credits roll, plot gets another twist
By Vamanan
When publicist G H Rao fashioned the AVM mono gram in the mid-forties of the last century , he made the letters progressively bigger to signify progress and growth.The imaginative visual neatly foretold future events. The entertainment concern went on to produce 170 films and is today the oldest surviving film studio in India which till recently had ambitious productions like `Sivaji' and ` Ayan'.

It is true that the recent opting out of the entertainment business by one of the partners of the studio after the third split in the AVM group and family has shrunk a portion of the studio. Yet the swathe of floors of AVM studios that featured stars of yesteryears is intact as is the apparent resolve of the fourth generation scions of movie moghul A V Meiyappan to abide by his dying wish that AVM should always spell cinema and entertainment.Only , the floors are not staging ground for film shootings but TV talk shows.
Meiyappan's is the story of a dogged businessman from Karaikudi whose passion for cinema and ability to judge popular taste made him a remarkably successful film producer and star maker.When he first entered the talkie world in the thirties, technical glitches like overexposure and non-sync of dialogue blighted his films (` Alli Arjuna', `Ratnavali'). But he was resourceful enough by his third film to try out playback singing, possibly a first for Tamil cinema (`Nandakumar').
Realising that having his own facilities was the answer to his problems, Meiyappan started Pragathi studio in Madras. He rented the Vizianagaram palace, the scene of the Maharajah's fatal fall from a balcony . The studio proved lucky for Meiyappan, especially with cooperation from talented writer and director A T Krishnaswami, as it yielded successful classics like `Sabapathi' and `Sri Valli' in the comedy and mythological genres. Typical of the studio system, Meiyappan had complete control over his product as studio owner, film producer and part director. His hero in `Sabapathi' was T R Ramachandran, employed on a monthly salary of `67.50! World War II and its power cuts made Meiyappan erect his studios in Kara ikudi. These were no more than thatched hutments but Meiyappan's collateral were the scripts (mostly adapted from successful plays) and resourceful technicians. And he was always a step ahead of his competition. When Tamil film producers were mostly into mythologicals and legendary tales, Meiyappan, on the eve of Independence, came up with a patriotic social, `Nam Iruvar', leavened with Bharati songs whose broadcast rights he had wisely purchased in ad vance! The timing and the sentiment made a resounding hit of what was otherwise a mediocre film.

Partition brought its windfall for Meiyappan when he was able to purchase evacuee property of 10 acres from a Muslim tanner in Kodambakkam, for `37,500.This was to become the heart of AVM Studios and AVM Productions (the latter having been first inaugurated in Santhome). `Vaazhkai', the very first film that AVM launched in Madras with 16-year-old Vyjayanthimala in the lead was a roaring hit.
Meiyappan sailed with the political winds, as for example in co-opting Dravidian propaganda in films like `Oar Iravu' and `Parasakthi', which launched Sivaji Ganesan, and broke new ground through `Andha Naal', the first Tamil film without songs. He plumped for neat family entertainment in `Deiva Piravi', `Kalathur Kannamma', `Naanum Oru Penn' and `Kuzhandaiyum Deivamum'. His strategy worked as the middle classes patronized the medium.
Meiyappan's sons Kumaran and Saravanan came into production around this time bringing in more contemporary tastes and stars like Sivaji and MGR who deferred respectfully to the erstwhile studio system.
After a lull, AVM was able to make a comeback in the eighties. Under Saravanan's stewardship, the AVM banner touted actors like Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, and made them mass heroes in a series of films beginning with `Murattu Kalai' and `Sakalakalavallavan' and ending with Sivaji.
Television soon started eroding the theatre-going population. Now, with over 25 films being telecast every day on TV , the middle classes have tended to give theatres a wide berth. Power has passed on to the stars and their chosen directors.Nothing is in the power of the producer, and delays often lead to films overshooting their budget. Producers who once controlled every aspect of film making can now find out where their money has gone only when they see the first copy! While technological changes are fast and furious, celluloid itself is almost on the verge of being phased out with the medium going digital. More than 200 Tamil films are being produced every year, out of which only a few succeed.
The odd dark horse like `Kaakka Muttai' hits the jackpot, but one crow does not make a summer of hits. In such a bleak scenario, time-tested producers are cautious about sticking their neck out. AVM productions itself saw gaps of eight years before `Murattu Kaalai' and five years before the Vikram-starrer `Gemini', and is waiting for a positive sentiment to set in before taking the leap again. The last AVM film was in 2010.
Aruna Guhan and Aparna Guhan, Saravanan's granddaughters have tested the waters charily with their first studio-backed film for the internet, `Idhuvum Kadandhu Poagum'. Significantly , it is about finding hope and renewal in a period of crisis and change.
(The writer is a film music historian and author of several books on cinema) Email us your feedback with full name and address to southpole.toi@timesgroup.com
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