A. V. Meiyappan

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.

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(1941) 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.

Meiyappan has five sons and six daughters born to his two wives Alamelu and Rajeswari.

From Alamelu Meiyappan, who died in 1946, has 1 son and 5 daughters.

For Rajeswari Meiyappan, who died on 9 November 2008, has 1 daughter and 4 sons including M. Saravanan.

With dawn of the 1970s, production had slowed down considerably. This was due to the fact that AVM himself was aging. Moreover, the AVM family chose to focus their attention upon social activities other than filming. AVM Productions produced not more than four films during the decade: Bomma Borusa, Dil Ka Raja,Akka Thamudu and Jaise Ko Taisa. Bomma Borusa made in Telugu by K. Balachander was an average grosser as was the Hindi film Dil Ka Raja which released in 1972. Akka Thamudu directed by the successful partnership of Krishnan–Panju was AVM's last film in Telugu. It was also AVM's only Telugu film featuring Jayalalithaa. In 1973, AVM produced his last film Jaise Ko Taisa starring Jitendra in the lead role.

AVM did not produce any movies following Jeene Ki Arzoo in 1981. He spent his time on social activities and the charitable institutions he had built as well as looking after his massive business empire.

AVM died on 12 August 1979 at the age of 72. In 1980, as per AVM's last wishes, AVM Studios commenced film production under Meiyappan's sons A.V.M Kumaran and M. Saravanan, after a seven-year hiatus.

Apart from his contributions to the growth of motion picture industry in Tamil Nadu, AVM has also donated extensively for charitable causes. The charitable activities of the AVM group were channelled through an organisation called AVM Charities established at Mylapore in Chennai. This trust has been managed by the descendants of AVM since his death in 1979. The AVM Charities had provided land for old age homes and organising social events. The AVM family also owns a marriage hall, AVM Rajeswari Kalyana Mandapam which is generally rented for Hindu marriages. This marriage hall is controlled by the AVM family through AVM Charities. Following the astounding success of the 2007 Tamil film Sivaji, AVM Productions declared publicly that it would offer 25% of the revenues from the film as charity.

The AVM Group owns a string of educational institutions all over Chennai. On 10 June 1963, AVM inaugurated Avichi High 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. Later, Avichi High School was upgraded to Avichi Higher Secondary School. 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.