The institute was established in 1945 as Adyar Film Institute and was a part of the Central Polytechnic. In 1965, it moved into its present campus in the Tharamani area of Chennai. At the time, the campus was spread over 54 acres, which has reduced over following decades, due to rapid urbanisation. Parts of land were given to the IIT Madras and many IT companies, bringing it down to present 10 acres. A full fledged "Film City" in the country, situated amidst sylvan surroundings and serene atmosphere at Chennai, is being inaugurated on 31 August 1994, in a truly manner by chief minister late J.Jayalalitha. The Film City with its 21 crore rupees worth of comprehensive infrastructural facilities encompassing all aspects of moviemaking. One can enter in, can exit with a completed film. M.G.R. Film city situated in Taramani. It is an Indian Film and Tv Training Institute run by Tamilnadu state Government under Information and Public relation. A Dream World that's dotting a living landscape has been the vision of the mighty architect of Tamilnadu's progress, Dr. J.Jayalalitha, the Honerable Chief Minister of Tamilnadu. After completion of this dream world and named as J.Jayalalitha Film City. The Grandeur and scale of the project has been inspired by her intellect and imagination and is an example of her creative spirit. The Film City has everything for the dream merchants to Spin their web of fantacy tales. Their wildest imagination can be realised here fo the "silver screen". These settings and locales cascade into a world of equipment and technology which reveal of level of sophistication seen only in the finest studios of the world. There were airconditioned shooting floor, Editing lab, recording studio, Preview theatre, Makeup room, central jail, Police station, courtyard and Japanese home. These settings plays an important role in Tv productions and Indian Films. In 2006 it was renamed as M.G.R. Film and Television Training Institute, after former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M.G. Ramachandran, who was a prominent actor of Tamil cinema. In 1994, the government started MGR Film City to make more filmmaking facilities in the city. On 16 October 1997, Queen Elizabeth II visited MGR Film City and watched the filming of Kamal Haasan's Tamil movie Marudhanayagam. The acting course that started in 1971, at the behest of M.G.R., was discontinued in 2002. Talks to revive the course have been on for many years.
