Actor, director and stage artiste M.R. Viswanathan, popularly known as Visu died in the city, on Sunday. He was 75 years old.
His daughter Lavanya said that he had a cardiac arrest following which he was rushed to a hospital on Sunday afternoon. “He passed away shortly after that. The funeral will be held on Monday,” she said.
He is survived by his wife, three daughters and six grandchildren.
Mr Viswanathan began acting on stage from his school days and then started working in the Tamil film industry. He was part of Y.G. Parthasarathy’s theatre troupe and later went to start his own troupe as well.
While he initially was a writer for films such as Pattina Pravesam and Thillu Mullu, he also began acting and directing films. He had also assisted director K. Balachander on a few films.
His popular films which include Manal Kayiru, Samsaram Adhu Minsaram, Aval Sumangalithaan and Dowry Kalyanam were known for their strong, family-centric subjects.
As a writer, Mr 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 Award for the Best film on other social issues in 1992. In a 2014 interview to The Hindu, he had said that cinema is an excellent medium to pass on a meaningful message to the audience.
Mr Visu had also hosted the immensely popular debate show Arattai Arangam on Sun TV which was aired for several years and dealt with various social issues. He later went on to host Makkal Arangam, a talk show on Jaya TV as well.
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 .
In 2016, the actor joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. BJP Tamil Nadu President L. Murugan, in a said that it was a big loss to the party.
