Visu

M. R. Viswanathan (born 1 July 1945), best known by his stage name Visu, is an Indian writer, director, stage, film and television actor and talk-show host. Visu initially worked as an assistant to director K. Balachander until becoming a director himself. He later began acting, with his first film being Kudumbam Oru Kadambam directed by S. P. Muthuraman.

Career

In the films directed by him, all characters were given equal importance. Often in his films, there was huge house wherein a joint family would reside and character of Visu would solve their problems.He was paired with K. R. Vijaya in Aval Sumangalithan wherein character of Karthik Muthuraman and Illavarasi were given importance in the second half of the film.Again in Veedu Manaivi Makkal, he was paired with K.R.Vijaya. He cast his brother Kishmu opposite Manorama in Chidambara Rahasyam and Vedikkai En Vadikkai.He casted M. N. Rajam as the evil mother-in-law in Penmani Aval Kanmani and as over cautious mother in Thirumathi Oru Vegamathi. His family dramas are laced with heavy dose of comedy along-with message for audience. The films like Samsaram Adhu Minsaaram, Penmani Aval Kanmani,Thirumathi Oru Vegumathi, Ketti Melam, Vaai Sollil Veerandi, Raja Thandiram, Dowry Kalyanam , Sakalakaala Sambandhi, Pudiya Sagaptham, Naanayam Ilatha Nanayam, Varvu Nalla Oravu, Vedikkai En Vadikkai, Manal Kayiru,Puyal Kadantha Bhoomi, Urimai Oonjal Adigirathu, Kanmani Poonga, Pattukotai Periyapa, Vaa Magale Vaa became blockbusters in the respire year of release, with them often coming in the top five highest grossing films of the year and are considered classics today. Each of them had the combination of director, writer of dialogues and screenplay writer and the main role being that of Visu. He often casted his brother Kishmu, S.V.Sekhar, Manorama, Kamla Kamesh, Delhi Ganesh, Dilip, Illavarasi, Illavarasan, Madhuri, Omakuchi Narasimhan in his directorial ventures. His film produced by Aidmk government Neengaa Nalla Irukkanam in 1992 and Meendum Savitri starring Revathi, were box office flops but were critically acclaimed.He also directed Prabhu in double role in Kavalan Avan Kovalan. He has sung songs in the films in Kaavalan Avan Kovalan and Pattukotai Periyappa.

He directed movies in Telugu as well. Adade Adharam was remake of Penmani Aval Kanmani.He acted in Telugu film Illu Illalu Pillalu directed by Dorai Raju, which was remake of Veedu Manaivi Makkal. He directed remake of his film Thirumathi Oru Vegumathi in Telugu as Srimathi Oka Baahumathi.

He also acted in films, wherein he was not the director like Oorukku Upadesham,Oomai Vizhigal, Mella Thirandha Kadavu , Veedu Manaivi Makkaal, Mappilai Sir, Uzhaipali,Vanaja Girija, Vanga Partner Vaanga — each of which had him in main role and became hits. He subsequently acted in supporting roles in films directed by others like Maya Bazar 1995, Irratai Roja, Arunachalam, Vasuki, Nesam,Aravindham, and Middle Class Madhavan. Visu is widely renowned for his wit and inspirational dialogues in films.

Other works

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.^[2]

Personal life

His wife Uma is a Homemaker.He has three daughters Lavanya, Sangeetha and Kalpana. They are married and settled. Lavanya moved to Chennai to help him in his Profession. He has Kishmu, Rajamani and Kuriakose Ranga from his family who are part of film industry.

Filmography

This film-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Year	Title	Credited as			Role	Notes
		Director	Writer	Actor
1980	Avan Aval Adhu	N	Y	N
1981	Thillu Mullu	N	Y	Y	As a film crew	Voice-Over Actor (Dubbing)
1981	Netrikkann	N	Y	N
1981	Simla Special	N	Y	N
1981	Keezh Vaanam Sivakkum	N	Y	N
1981	Kudumbam Oru Kadambam	N	Y	Y	Srinivasa Raghavan
1982	Kanmani Poonga	Y	Y	Y	Cricketer Ramkumar
1982	Manal Kayiru	Y	Y	Y	Uthramerur Narathar Naidu
1982	Pudhukavithai	N	Y	N
1983	Dowry Kalyanam	Y	Y	Y	Ganesh
1984	Nallavanuku Nallavan	N	Y	Y	Owner Gangadharan
1984	Puyal Kadantha Boomi	Y	Y	Y
1984	Rajathanthiram	Y	Y	Y	Bairavan
1984	Vaai Sollil Veeranadi	Y	Y	Y	Vengapuli Varadhachari
1984	Nanayamillatha Nanayam	Y	Y	Y	Veerapandi
1984	Oorukku Upadhesam	N	N	Y	Sankaran
1985	Puthiya Sagaptham	Y	Y	Y	Ramadasaradan
1985	Aval Sumangalithan	Y	Y	Y	Watchman Aarumugam
1985	Ketti Melam	Y	Y	Y
1985	Chidambara Rahasiyam	Y	Y	Y	Beemarao
1986	Mr. Bharath	N	Y	Y	Kumaresa Gounder
1986	Samsaram Adhu Minsaaram	Y	Y	Y	Ammaiyappa Mudaliyar	National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment
1986	Oomai Vizhigal	N	N	Y	Rathnasabapathy
1986	Mella Thirandhathu Kadhavu	N	N	Y	Thulasi's father
1987	Adade Adharam	Y	Y	Y		Telugu film
1987	Thirumathi Oru Vegumathi	Y	Y	Y	Naagarkoil Naadhamuni
1987	Kavalan Avan Kovalan	Y	Y	Y	Prabhu's Father-in-law
1988	Penmani Aval Kanmani	Y	Y	Y	Radio Mama
1988	Veedu Manaivi Makkal	N	N	Y	Subbaiah Pillai
1988	Mapillai Sir	N	N	Y	Sock Puppet
1988	Sakalakala Sammandhi	Y	Y	Y	Mayavaram Sammandhi
1990	Varavu Nalla Uravu	Y	Y	Y	Appa Ambalavanar	Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Story Writer
1990	Vedikkai En Vadikkai	Y	Y	Y	Kaavisattai Kandasamy
1992	Mannan	N	N	Y	Viswanathan
1992	Urimai Oonjaladugirathu	Y	Y	Y	Kasturi's Father
1992	Neenga Nalla Irukkanum	Y	Y	Y		National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues
1993	Uzhaippali	N	N	Y	Barrister
1993	Chinna Mapillai	N	N	Y	Marriage Broker
1994	Pattukottai Periyappa	Y	Y	Y	Pattukottai Periyappa
1994	Vaa Magale Vaa	Y	Y	Y	Viswanathan
1994	Vanaja Girija	N	N	Y	Business man Ramanathan
1994	Vaanga Partner Vaanga	N	N	Y	Ganapathi
1995	Mayabazar	N	N	Y
1996	Irattai Roja	N	N	Y		Guest appearance
1996	Meendum Savithri	Y	Y	Y	Narayana Moorthy
1997	Nesam	N	N	Y
1997	Aravindhan	N	N	Y
1997	Adimai Changili	N	N	Y
1997	Vasuki	N	N	Y	Ramasamy
1997	Arunachalam	N	N	Y	Adv. Rangachari
1997	Sishya	N	N	Y
1999	Anbulla Kadhalukku	N	N	Y
1999	Mannavaru Chinnavaru	N	N	Y
2001	Sigamani Ramamani	Y	Y	Y	Sundaramoorthy
2001	Krishna Krishna	N	N	Y	Advocate Viswanathan	Guest appearance
2001	Middle Class Madhavan	N	N	Y	Advocate
2001	Vadagupatti Maapillai	N	N	Y	Gomathi Shankar
2004	Maha Nadigan	N	N	Y
2005	Ji	N	N	Y	Raghavan
2007	Cheena Thaana 001	N	N	Y	Governor	Guest role
2007	Nenjirukkumvarai Ninaivirukkum	N	N	Y		Guest role
2008	Ellam Avan Seyal	N	N	Y
2009	Innoruvan	N	N	Y
2013	Alex Pandian	N	N	Y	Chief Minister
2013	Oruvar Meethu Iruvar Sainthu	N	N	Y	Judge
2016	Manal Kayiru 2	N	Y	Y	Uthramerur Narathar Naidu

References

External links

• Visu on IMDb