Lendary producer M Saravanan of the iconic AVM Productions passed away on Thursday due to health-related issues at the age of 86. As many celebrities from Tamil cinema continue to mourn his passing, Kamal Haasan, who has had a working relationship of more than six decades with the AVM banner, released a video message on social media to speak about the veteran producer and his long-standing association with his studio. The 71-year-old star started his career as a child actor, at the age of five, in AVM Productions’ Kalathur Kannamma (1960).
Recounting his early memories with the legendary producer, Kamal Haasan shares, “The relationship I had with Thiru. AVM Saravanan is like the bond I shared with my brothers, Chandra Haasan and Charuhasan. When I was young, I was unsure about the level of respect I was supposed to show them. Those confusions went away after I crossed 20 because I realised then that I should hold them with the same level of respect that I showed my father. So, I would like to believe I share some of MS Guhan’s grief.”
The actor goes on to request the next generation of leaders from AVM Productions to carry forward the legacy, calling it a shared responsibility. “I am not alone in this grief because I was planted as a humbling sapling in the verdant garden of AVM, and later grew and flourished. At this garden, where several legends left their giant footprints, I would learn to walk as well. Saravanan ayya and his brothers were like the Per sollum pillai of the studio (A reference to Kamal-AVM’s 1987 film and the Tamil phrase that roughly translates to ‘the child who makes their parents proud’). And I would like to be the same. I wish the third generation of this giant garden continues to nurture and support new artists the way the studio supported me in my early years. I consider that to be our collective responsibility, as childrens of the organisation,” he says.
Kamal ends the message on a poignant note, thanking the late veteran. “This is a grief shared by those who have worked, retired, and are hoping to work in AVM. The world wouldn’t have known about such leaders who stayed in the background. The reason we worship him is evident through the way we conduct our lives and our artistic endeavours. The only way to thank him is to walk with valour in the way he paved for us all.”
Apart from his debut film, Kamal had also collaborated with AVM Productions on films like Paarthaal Pasi Theerum (1962), Thoongathey Thambi Thoongathey (1983), Uyarndha Ullam (1985), and Per Sollum Pillai (1987).