Madras Memories: A walk through history and legacy of cinema

For many, Madras rings with emotion. Apart from being synonymous with vibrant culture, food and beaches, the city which celebrates its birthday today has had a long-lasting connect with the world of cinema. One of the pioneers of modern Indian cinema was AV Meiyappan's AVM Productions in 1945, which produced over 300 films across languages in the country.

Commemorating the 384th year of Madras, The New Indian Express organised a walk for students and the public through the AVM heritage museum inside the iconic AVM Studio. #ExpressWalk is a part of Madras Memories, a series of events and activities conducted for Madras Week celebrations by the organisation.

The event was graced by MS Guhan, producer and managing partner of AVM Productions; Babu, veteran cinematographer, and editor; Lakshmi Menon, CEO of The New Indian Express and Vignesh Kumar J, senior vice-president of marketing.

Almost 30 students from the DOT School of Design attended the event where they were taken through the history and legacy of cinema via film archives, reels, posters, carefully-preserved artifacts, vintage cars and bikes, including the ones owned by former CM and celebrated actor MG Ramachandran, SS Vasan, founder of Gemini Studios, and AV Meiyappan himself.

Babu, who has worked in over 100 films as a cinematographer and editor, explained the mechanisms of several retro cameras and editing equipment like Mitchell 35mm cine camera, 16 mm projector, rewinding tables with film splicer and film footage meter and more. He also explained several tidbits and trivia behind iconic films.

Speaking about the event, Sandeep M, a student from DOT said, "I was fascinated to look at vintage camera equipment and know the story behind them. I did not know that they used to put so much effort behind making each film." "It is interesting that almost 90 per cent of cars that are here at this museum are in working condition and even have FASTag on them," said Shri Sahana, another student.