Gurunath Meiyappan's name surfaces in investigations

BCCI president N Srinivasan’s son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan, was being linked to the spot-fixing scam, according to news channels on Wednesday.  Television reports claimed that police sources said that Vindoo Dara Singh had placed bets on behalf of Meiyappan and that the arrested actor was in “frequent touch” with him.

So, who exactly is Meiyappan?
The 45-year-old is the grandson of Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar, the renowned film producer, director and philanthropist who established AVM Productions in Chennai several decades ago.

Meiyappan is the son of Balasubramaniam, AVM’s youngest son (from his second wife).
The AVMs are Chettiars, a robust business community from Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu. They migrated to Chennai in the 1920s-30s.

Before the IPL started, Meiyappan was very much part of his own family business, running the show with his cousin, MS Guhan (producer of many blockbusters including Rajnikanth-starrer Sivaji: The Boss).

It is common knowledge in Chennai that Srinivasan and TN CM J Jayalalithaa are at loggerheads.

But Meiyappan’s uncle (father’s brother), AVM Saravanan, is a diplomatic man and on good terms with Amma. AVM Productions, located in Vadapalani, launched actors like Sivaji Ganesan and Kamal Hassan. The production house has made movies in Tamil, Telugu and even Hindi.