Have you ever wondered what happened to that beautiful palanquin that Rajinikanth jumped out from in the Vaaji Vaaji song in Sivaji?

Or what became of superstar MGR’s car?

Well, they have found their home at the AVM Heritage Museum in Vadapalani, Chennai.

The good news is that YOU can see them anytime you want!

 

IMAGE: Rajinikanth in the Vaaji Vaaji song in Sivaji.

The AVM Heritage Museum is housed inside legendary film-maker A V Meiyappan’s studio, which has been managed by the family for 88 years and over three generations.

Movie props are not the only thing you will see at the museum. The family has also been interested in vintage cars, only some of which were used in movies.

IMAGE: A view of the AVM Heritage Museum that houses old equipment, movie artifacts, and around 40 cars and 20 bikes used by actors. Photograph: ANI

In the good old days, studios in Chennai would churn out movies in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi languages.

When NTR became the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1983, one of the first things he did was build a Film City in Hyderabad and invited Telugu film producers to shoot there.

After that, the Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi movie productions moved to their respective states.

Photograph: ANI

Most Tamil movies these days are shot outdoors and studios are surviving on television serials that run throughout the year.

A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com takes us for a tour at the AVM Heritage Museum, in the first part of an interesting feature.

 

Photograph: Sriram Selvaraj

The grand entrance.

 

Photograph: Sriram Selvaraj

Meet the founder, A V Meiyappan. On his left is the AVM symbol.

 

Photograph: Sriram Selvaraj

This is the Ford quadricycle, a forerunner to present day cars.

Photograph: Sriram Selvaraj

The Benz Motorwagen.

 

Photograph: Sriram Selvaraj

The palanquin used in the film, Yejaman, starring Rajinikanth and Meena. In one of the sequences, Meena plays a princess in a play and was carried around in this palanquin.

 

Photograph: Sriram Selvaraj

The palanquin that Rajinikanth jumps out of in the Vaaji Vaaji song in Sivaji, co-starring Shriya Saran.

 

Photograph: Sriram Selvaraj

This car belongs to the legendary MGR, when he was a cine star.

When he became Tamil Nadu’s chief minister, he would travel in an Ambassador with the license number plate 3777.

 

Photograph: Sriram Selvaraj

This vintage beauty was used by Rajinikanth and Shriya Saran in Sivaji.

 

Photograph: Sriram Selvaraj

This bike was used by Rajinikanth in the film, Payum Puli.



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