Visu

Meenakshisundaram Ramasamy Viswanathan (1 July 1945 – 22 March 2020), best known by his stage name Visu, was an Indian screenwriter, film director, stage, film and television actor and talk-show host known for his work in Tamil theatre and film.^[3] Visu initially worked as an assistant to director K. Balachander until becoming a director himself. He later began acting, with his first notable film being Kudumbam Oru Kadambam (1981), directed by S. P. Muthuraman.

Career

Visu started his career as a theatre artist, working with Y. G. Parthasarathy's troupe. He was writing scripts for stage dramas before getting into the film industry as an assistant to director K. Balachander. During his time with Balachander, he wrote screenplays for numerous films including Pattina Pravesam (1977), Avan Aval Adhu (1980), Thillu Mullu (1981) and Netrikkan (1981). Thillu Mullu and Netrikkan, which were both released in 1981, became box office hits for actor Rajinikanth. Visu made his debut as a character actor in the film Kudumbam Oru Kadambam (1981), for which he also wrote the screenplay. The film was directed by S. P. Muthuraman.

His first film as a director was Manal Kayiru (1982). Most of his films including Manal Kayiru, Dowry Kalyanam (1983), Samsaram Adhu Minsaram (1986), Thirumathi Oru Vegumathi (1987), Penmani Aval Kanmani (1988), Vedikkai En Vadikkai (1990) and Pattukottai Periyappa (1994) spoke about the issues of urban middle-class families. These films, which were released in the mid-80s, turned out to be crowd pullers, particularly with regard to the female audience.^[4] His other super hit was Chidambara Rahasiyam (1985), which is considered a cult-classic.^[5]

While he has directed a rage of actors on screen, he and his brother Kishmu used to star in many of his films. His film Neenga Nalla Irukkanum won the National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues in 1992. Based on prohibition, the film was the last onscreen appearance of then Tamil Nadu chief minister, J. Jayalalithaa.^[6]

He has also shared the screen with Rajinikanth in Nallavanukku Nallavan (1984), Mr. Bharath (1986), Mannan (1992), Uzhaippali (1993) and Arunachalam (1997).

During the ending phase of his career, he made movies which did not leave a lasting mark on the audience as Vaa Magale Vaa (1994), Meendum Savithri (1996) and Sigamani Ramamani (2001).^[7]

Actor and stage artiste S. Ve. Shekher, who worked in over 20 films with Visu, called him extremely disciplined and committed.^[8]

As an actor, he was last seen in Manal Kayiru 2 (2016), the sequel to one of his earliest directorial successes, Manal Kayiru.

He is known to have starred in over 60 films and directed around 25 films.^[9]

Visu later became known for hosting live debates on television, namely Arattai Arangam on Sun TV and Visuvin Makkal Arangam on Jaya TV.^[10][11]

Style

"Growing up in a joint family, I observed how each person had a difference of opinion. It wasn't bad; just that we were different. I wondered, 'Wouldn't other joint families have similar issues?' So I started writing scripts that reflect the day-to-day scenario in a joint family".

— Visu in 2016^[12]

In most of the films Visu wrote or directed, all the characters were given equal importance. Often, the plot included a huge house where a joint family would reside and the character of Visu would solve their problems. Many of Visu's film titles contain rhyming words, such as Kudumbam Oru Kadambam, Samsaram Adhu Minsaram, Thirumathi Oru Vegumathi, Kavalan Avan Kovalan, Penmani Aval Kanmani, Varavu Nalla Uravu and Vedikkai En Vadikkai. His films focused on many family issues like dowry, need of remarriage for women, mother in law-daughter in law disputes and so on which were occurring that time. In most of his films there is a character named Uma, named after a school teacher who predicted his rise to fame after reading one of his scripts when he was a travel agent. During his last years before death, he wrote the script for a sequel to Samsaram Adhu Minsaram, which remains unfilmed.^{[13][14][15][16]}

Personal life

In 2016, he joined and campaigned for BJP.^[17]

On 22 March 2020 at Chennai, Visu died of kidney failure at the age of 74.^[18][19][20]

Filmography

As director

As writer

As an actor

Television

• Arattai Arangam - Sun TV
• Makkal Arangam - Jaya TV
• Naalavathu Mudichu - Jaya TV^[51]

Plays/novels

As writer

References

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2. ^ "TANTIS". tamilfilmdirectorsassociation.com. Archived 2 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2014-07-20.
3. ^ Balasubramanian, V. (3 April 2014). "I never left the stage". The Hindu. Archived 11 September 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
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5. ^ "Veteran Tamil actor, director Visu passes away at 74". The Week. Archived 31 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
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7. ^ "Kollywood Director Visu Biography, News, Photos, Videos". Archived 30 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
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30. ^ Krishnaswamy, N. (20 March 1987). "Celebrating AVM's Visu's unassuming hit". The Indian Express. p. 14. Archived 10 October 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 16 September 2020. – via Google News Archive
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39. ^ யுவராஜ், லாவண்யா (23 September 2022). "Pattukottai Periyappa: 'விசு வந்தாலே போதும்...' 28 ஆண்டுகளை நிறைவு செய்யும் 'பட்டுக்கோட்டை பெரியப்பா'" (in Tamil). ABP Nadu. Archived 23 September 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
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44. ^ "ரஜினியைக் காட்டி ஸ்ரீகாந்த்; ஸ்ரீகாந்தைக் காட்டி ரஜினி; விசுவின் கதை வசனத்தில் 'சதுரங்கம்'" (in Tamil). Hindu Tamil Thisai. 26 March 2020. Archived 23 May 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
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46. ^ "வசிஷ்டர் வாயால்..." (in Tamil). Kalki. 21 December 1980. p. 64. Archived 22 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-03-22. – via Internet Archive
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49. ^ முத்துராமன், எஸ்.பி. (20 April 2016). "சினிமா எடுத்துப் பார் 55: 'குடும்பம் ஒரு கதம்பம்'" (in Tamil). Hindu Tamil Thisai. Archived 8 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
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51. ^ Jaya TV (11 October 2021). நாலாவது முடிச்சு- Naalavathu Mudichu | Tamil Serial | Jaya TV Rewind | Episode 1. Archived 9 December 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 20 October 2021. – via YouTube

External links

• Visu at IMDb