AVM Productions

Video captures courtesy of Anands and Soundr rama

Background: A.V.M. Productions (A. V. Meiyappan Productions) is an Indian film production company founded in 1945 by A. V. Meiyappan, who founded previously Sarashwathi Sound Productions and Pragati Pictures Limited in the 1930s. It is the oldest surviving film studio in India. Since 1947, the company has produced over 170 movies in the Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam languages. Even when A.V. Meiyappan died in 1979, the company remains one of the most famous film companies in Indian cinema.

1st Logo (1948)

AVM Productions (1948) Logo: On a dark background, we see this 3D text (that looks like a structure):

AVM PRODUCTIONS

FX/SFX: It's a still logo.

Music/Sounds: A somber melody of a clarinet.

Availability: Seen only on Vedhala Ulagam.

Editor's Note: Cheap logo, but it's what you expect from a small independent company from India.

2nd Logo (1949-1950, 1954)

AVM Productions (1949) Logo: On a parquet floor (which is taken from the intro of Vazhkai), we see a similar 3D text from the previous logo, but the sides of the structure appear darker.

FX/SFX: See previous logo.

Music/Sounds: A re-recorded version of the previous melody.

Availability: Seen on Vazhkai, Bedara Kannappa and Jeevitham.

3rd Logo (1951-1976)

AVM Productions (1951)AVM Productions (1954)AVM Productions (1956)AVM Productions (1959)AVM Productions (1964, B&W version)AVM Productions (1964, Color version)AVM Productions (1966)AVM Productions (1968, B&W version)AVM Productions (1968, Color version)AVM Productions (1971)AVM Productions (1973)AVM Productions (1980)

Nickname: "AVM Structure I"

Logo: The signature logo text from the previous logo is seen on a TCF-like tower, placed on a cityscape background at night. The logo zooms into the text.

Variants: Various colored variants of the logo exist. For example, Pooja had a blue sunset sky with a dark shade of white for the tower. Sometimes, the logo is more zoomed out/in. The logo also may appear very dark, leaving only the words.

FX/SFX: The zoom-in. Sometimes the logo is live-action, while other times (especially on earlier films) it's 2D.

Music/Sounds: A re-recorded version of the melody, which is now accompanied by a tanpura.

Availability: Seen on many films from the period 1951 and 1976, like Pooja, Uyarntha Manithan, and Bahar.

Editor's Note: An improvement over the previous logos. It looks very reminiscent of 20th Century Fox.

4th Logo (1980-)

Nicknames: "Post-Meiyappan Era", "AVM Structure II"

Logo: Same as the previous logo, but with a sunset yellow, red and blue background and with a different cityscape. This logo is preceeded by the "in memoriam"-type screen of the studio's founder, A. V. Meiyappan.

Anniversary variants: After the regular logo, one of the things will occur: 50th: TBA 60th: TBA 70th: TBA

FX/SFX: Same as the previous logo but purely live-action.

Music/Sounds: The same melody from the previous logo's music. In the 2000s, the melody was re-recorded once again making it sound even more melancholic.

Availability: Seen on Murattu Kaalai, or Punnami Naagu. In addition, some variants of the logo have been seen on the TV series released by AVM on its official channel (for TV serials) in YouTube.

Editor's Note: Same as above, but the visuals looks more appealing. Quite honestly, the logo is now outdated by today's standards and the re-recorded music sounds more depressing than the previous.