Reportedly Tamil actor, writer, and director Meenakshisundaram Ramasamy Viswanathan, popularly known as Visu, passed away in chennai on Sunday. He was 75. The actor had reportedly been suffering from age-related health issues. Visu started his career on the stage, working with theatre artiste YG Parathasarathy’s drama troupe. He began writing scripts for stage, before shifting to the film industry as an assistant director to K Balachandar.
Reportedly Visu wrote scripts and dialogues for the director’s films. This period of collaboration saw Visu writing the script for the Rajinikanth-starrer Thillu Mullu, in which he also has a cameo. He later took on small roles in the director’s films, before branching out on his own as a writer and director. His first on-screen major role was in the film Kudumbam Oru Kadambam, for which he also wrote the script. He then wrote, directed, and starred in the critically acclaimed film Manal Kayiru.
Arguably, the actor-director's best-known film is Samsaram Adhu Minsaram, a drama on the goings on in a joint family in the 1980s. The film’s memorable dialogues and the performances of artists including manorama and Raghuvaran, remain popular to this day. Chidambara Ragasiyam, another film written and directed by Visu, and starring him, Arun Pandiyan, Ilavarasi, manorama and S.Ve Shekar among others, has attained cult-classic status, with contemporary films such as Tamizh Padam referencing it.His films, often portraying middle-class families and societies and their lives, were renowned for their comic timing and wit. In his later years, the director became well-known for his debate show, Arattai Arangam.
