"Film Studios" Top 5 Page for this destination Chennai (Madras) Things to Do Tip by tayloretc

Chennai film studios ("Kollywood") rival Bollywood for output, so you'd think there would be a lot of studios around. Actually, there are only two, and one, AVM Film Studio, is the only one that’s still open to the public. It appears they've shut down movie production, and now do TV only.

It’s all very casual – “open to the public” means you more or less wander in and wander around, though run down back lot sets, construction projects, and whatever filming is going on that day. Lonely Planet says you need a pass, but no one gave me one. I wasn’t even aware I was inside the studio grounds until I ran into a film crew. There’s at least one inside studio, which you can enter during breaks in the filming to watch for a while. No one seems to mind photography, but it’s probably best to ask. There’s no entrance fee to any of it, and someone even offered me tea.

There was filming both inside and outside on the Saturday morning I went. There were foreigners doing something in the outside shoot (looking like they’d just wandered in), so if you’ve ever wanted to be an extra in a Tamil commercial or TV serial, here’s your chance.

Address: 38 Arcot Road, Vadapalani
Directions: About 10 km west of the city center.