Visu

He started his career as a theatre artist, working with Y. G. Parthasarathy’s drama troupe. He was writing scripts for stage dramas before getting into the film industry as an assistant to legendary 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.The script and the flawless screenplay gave Rajinikanth a platform to prove that he can do comedy and not just action movies. Visu made his debut as an actor in the film Kudumbam Oru Kadambam (1981), for which he also wrote the screenplay. The film was directed by S. P. Muthuraman. Though Visu acted as a protagonist in a few of his own films, he was largely known as a character artist.

His first film as a director was Kanmani Poonga (1982). Most of his films including Manal Kayiru (1982), 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 Brahminical families. These films, which were released in the mid-80s, turned out to be crowd pullers, particularly with regard to the female audience.[5] His other super hit was Chidambara Rahasiyam (1985), which is considered a cult-classic.[6]

Samsaram Adhu Minsaram (1986) was the first Tamil film to win the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.

As a writer, Viswanathan was known for his sharp and witty dialogues, that lent itself to family dramas. While he has directed a rage of actors on screen, he and his brother Kishmu used to star in his films as well in memorable roles. 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 chief minister, J. Jayalalithaa.[7]

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

During the ending phase of his career, he made movies which didn't leave a lasting mark on the audience as Vaa Magale Vaa (1994), Meendum Savithri (1996) and Sigamani Ramamani (2001).[8]

Actor and stage artiste S. Ve. Shekher, who has worked in over 20 films with Visu, said that he was an extremely disciplined and committed.[9]

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

The versatile actor is known to have starred in over 60 films and directed around 25 films.[10]

In Visu's films, all the characters were given equal importance. Often, there was huge house wherein a joint family would reside and the character of Visu would solve their problems. Many of Visu's film titles contain rhyming words, a trait which began with Samsaram Adhu Minsaram (1986). His movies 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 the films he directed there's a character named Uma,that's the name of a teacher who told him he would achieve great success after reading his script.[12]

A philanthropist, Visu had been supporting the needy through his own foundation. He became known for hosting live debates on television, namely Visuvin Makkal Arangam on Jaya TV and Arattai Arangam on Sun TV.[13][14] He joined and campaigned for BJP.[15]

Visu died due to kidney failure on 22 March 2020 at Chennai.[16][17][18][19]

• Visu at IMDb