Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar - The 1960s

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 Hassan 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 (1964) 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.