AVM Garden Villa opens its doors for public events

Chennai: The AVM Garden Villa, from where legendary film producer A V Meiyappa Chettiyar supervised his AVM Studios, is now thrown open to the public to conduct events.

"The two-acre villa, surrounded by a lush lawn, garden, gazebo, fountains and waterfalls, can now be rented for a family sangeet or even corporate events," says Bhuvana, granddaughter of AV Meiyappan.

The colonial-type villa was built in 1965 by renowned architect PS Govind Rao. Yet, the marble-floored building flaunts contemporary trend with a spacious hall, two cozy bedrooms and kitchen-cum-dining room.

Recalling the villa's golden days, Bhuvana said that during his stay, Meiyappan hosted several events, including for Oscar winner, Hollywood star Fredric March and also to top stars of Indian cinema.

Remember the majestic house of actor Sarath Babu in the movie Annamalai? This is the villa where that movie was shot. Prior to that, the super-hit film of K Balachander, Aboorva Ragangal, was also filmed here.

From the late 80s, the manor was much sought-after to shoot several south Indian films. A few of the most popular movies which were canned here are: Ninaithale Inikkum, Sakalakala Vallavan, Vazhvae Mayam and Padaiyappa.

Several film events were held here which were attended by several dignitaries, including M G Ramachandran, CN Annadurai, Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Amitabh Bachchan and Satyajit Ray, to name a few.

"There were a few family events hosted in the villa recently. People who attended them loved the spacious place and that's when we decided to open it for public," says Bhuvana.

Want to host that long overdue party? Call up 99 400 21318 to book the AVM Garden Villa.