Fire at AVM studios guts Vijay film set

CHENNAI:Fire broke out in the famous AVM studios in Vadapalani early on Friday morning,destroying the sets of under-production Tamil film Vettaikaran' starring Vijayand Anushka. The fire, which broke shortly before three in the morning, guttedfloor numbers 6 and 7 of the studios. The sets for the film was erected on floor7. The damage, according to studio sources, is estimated to be Rs 8crore.Inquiries reveal that the fire was caused by an electricalshort-circuit in floor 6 and spread to floor 7. The two floors are part of onelarge building, partitioned by a wall, facing the lawns of the studios. Floorsare separate structures in a studio where several films can be shotsimultaneously. Around 2.50 am on Friday, a security guard noticed smokeemanating from floor 7. He immediately alerted the studio incharge and firepersonnel. "Fire kept leaping out of floor 6. Within an hour, the entire floorwas gutted. Vijay TV had erected its sets there," a fire personnel said.A fire personnel at the spot complained that the studios did notcomply with fire safety norms and did not have even the basic infrastructure tocope with a fire accident. KK Nagar police have registered a case and furtherinvestigations are on.As soon as the news spread, units hands ofVettaikaran' rushed to the sets and managed to retrieve some expensive cameras,lighting units and audio devices. "We had just completed 106 days of shooting inAndhra Pradesh. Here we were shooting a fight scene between Vijay and Teluguactor. The first day's shoot finished at 6 pm (on Thursday) after which wepacked the equipment and left them behind. We were hoping to finish the shootingfor the film in another 35 days. We managed to save the two caravans, one forVijay and another for Anushka, and also equipment worth lakhs of rupees," aproduction executive of Vettaikaran movie told The Times OfIndia.The AVM studios started functioning at its present location inChennai in 1949 (after having started off as Pragati Studios at Santhome in1945, but due to acute power shortage during World War Two, its owner A VMeiyappan shifted for a while to Karaikudi). Hindi cinema, right from the timeof Raj Kapoor, has enjoyed a strong bond with AVM studios.Thebuilding comprising the two floors that were gutted on Friday lookedold-fashioned from the outside, but inside it was well-equipped to create amake-believe world. The studio was designed with foam, thermocol and coir, whichonly fuelled the fire and gave a tough time to the fire personnel. "We receivedthe fire call at 2.58 am. At least 11 fire tenders and 10 water tankers werepressed into service. By the time we came, fire had already engulfed floor 6, sowe concentrated on floor 7 to prevent the fire from spreading to adjoining sets.We brought the fire under control at 5.15 am. By 9 am, it was put out,"divisional fire officer (south) Priya N Ravichandran said.R GowriKumar, manager for M Balasubramanian, the producer of Vettaikaran', said, "I gotthe information at 3 am and I rushed here after informing my boss. We are yet tocome to a conclusion about the cause of the fire. We are assessing the damage tofile for insuranceclaim.