Founded in 1946 by AV Meiyappan, AVM Productions is among India’s oldest and most iconic production houses, having made over 3,000 films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi. The Chennai-based company, now run by that dean AV Meiyappan Chettiar’s great-grandchildren, has stayed away from active production for most of the last decade. His latest release was a short film, which was also selectively released online, called Idhuvum Kadandhu Pogum in 2014.
Now this former production house — probably the oldest active film company in India right now — is ready to test the OTT space. Your maliciously named web series Tamil Rockerz It’s all set to be streamed on SonyLiv soon..
But why maliciously named? Why Tamil Rockerz is the name of a piracy group that has been a big challenge for the Tamil film industry. Tamil Rockerz represents the most modern of threats to the film industry. And it is being taken over by the oldest movie house. Cool huh?
A series about the fight against cyber pirates
The most anticipated teaser of our first ever web-series #Tamilrockerz, a Tamil original by @SonyLIV starring @arunvijayno1 directed by @arivazhagan is here for you. /hgmPzt0jKCJuly 3, 2022
Aruna Guhan, one of the twin sisters of the AVM eponymous family, has been busy promoting the film on social media platforms (the other being Aparna Guhan Shyam) and shared the teaser for the Tamil Rockerz web series starring Arun Vijay, Iswarya Menon and Vani Bhojan on leadership. The series will also feature the likes of Azhagam Perumal, Vinodhini Vaidyanathan and MS Bhaskar in central roles. Billed as a crime thriller about the grim reality of piracy in the Tamil film industry, the series is directed by Arivazhagan, who has directed thrillers such as They were and Kuttram 23. For the record, the series was formerly titled Tamil Stalkers.
“Tamil Rockerz delves deep into the dark side of the world of piracy and unravels the industry’s ongoing battle against identifying the group that is involved in the release of pirated content. The series follows the journey of Rudra, a police officer, who must fight against time, unruly fans and an anonymous network of cyber pirates to secure a massively budgeted, highly anticipated film from the notorious piracy group.”
Producer Aruna Guhan said: “Tamil Rockerz it’s a very special show as it marks AVM Productions’ foray into OTT, as well as being a story so close to our industry. Aparna and I were eager to show how piracy affects the entertainment industry and keep it rooted and content driven. Working with director Arivazhagan, we were able to tell the story visually with deeper context and immense skill. We are extremely excited to have Arun Vijay elevate the series.”
The specific date from which the webseries will be available is not yet known. The series, made in Tamil, will also be available in languages such as Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi.