Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar

Alias	A. V. Meiyappan, AVM
Age	111 years
Height	5'8"
Occupation	Producer
Language Worked in	Hindi, Telugu, Tamil
Spouse	Alamelu Meiyappan, Rajeswari Meiyappan
Birth Place	Karaikudi, Madras Presidency, India
Eye Color	Black
Hair Color	Blond
Religion	Hinduism
Parents	Avichi Chettiar, Lakshmi Achi
Favourite Cuisine	South Indian
Favourite Color	White
City	Chennai

Summary

Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar (28 July 1907 – 12 August 1979), also known as A. V. Meiyappan or AVM was an Indian film producer, director and philanthropist who established the 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 (Tamil film industry) to run successfully for five decades and three generations.

Biography

AVM was born in Karaikudi on 28 July 1907[4] to father Avichi Chettiar and mother Lakshmi Achi basically a Nagarathar. Avichi Chettiar owned a department store called AV & Sons which sold gramophone records.[1] AVM was born in the aristocratic Nagarathar community whose members had gained a fine reputation in the mercantile and money-lending business in the later half of the 19th century and early years of the 20th century.

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.Narayana 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.

Facts

The AVM Group owns a string of educational institutions all over Chennai. On 10 June 1963, AVM inaugurated Avichi School in Virugambakkam in memory of his father Avichi Chettiar. The motive behind the founding was to provide good quality education to the poorer sections of society.

A number of schools have been established since the creation of Avichi School. In 1994, AVM's son Kumaran established the Avichi High School for girls. This was followed by the establishment of AVM Rajeswari Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Virugambakkam in 1995. These schools which are run by the AVM Group as a part of AVM Charities are regarded as some of the best in Chennai.

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