Meenakshisundaram Ramasamy Viswanathan (1 July 1945 – 22 March 2020), best known by his stage nameVisu, was an Indian screenwriter, film director, stage, film and television actor and talk-show host.^[3] Visu initially worked as an assistant to directorK. Balachander until becoming a director himself. He later began acting, with his first film beingKudumbam Oru Kadambam (1981), directed byS. P. Muthuraman.

This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(November 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

He started his career as a theatre artist, working withY. G. Parthasarathy's drama troupe. He was writing scripts for stage dramas before getting into the film industry as an assistant to legendary directorK. Balachander. During his time with Balachander, he wrote screenplays for numerous films includingPattina Pravesam (1977),Avan Aval Adhu (1980),Thillu Mullu (1981) andNetrikkan (1981).Thillu Mullu andNetrikkan, which were both released in 1981, became box office hits for actorRajinikanth.Visu made his debut as an actor in the filmKudumbam Oru Kadambam (1981), for which he also wrote the screenplay. The film was directed byS. P. Muthuraman.

His first film as a director wasKanmani Poonga (1982). Most of his films includingManal Kayiru (1982),Dowry Kalyanam (1983),Samsaram Adhu Minsaram (1986),Thirumathi Oru Vegumathi (1987),Penmani Aval Kanmani (1988),Vedikkai En Vadikkai (1990) andPattukottai 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 wasChidambara Rahasiyam (1985), which is considered a cult-classic.^[5]

While he has directed a rage of actors on screen, he and his brotherKishmu used to star in many of his films. His filmNeenga Nalla Irukkanum won theNational 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.^[6]

He has also shared the screen with Rajinikanth inNallavanukku Nallavan (1984),Mr. Bharath (1986),Mannan (1992),Uzhaippali (1993) andArunachalam (1997).

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

Actor and stage artisteS. Ve. Shekher, who has worked in over 20 films with Visu, said that he was extremely disciplined and committed.^[8]

As an actor, he was last seen inManal 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]

In most of the films Visu directed, 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, such asKudumbam Oru Kadambam,Samsaram Adhu Minsaram,Thirumathi Oru Vegumathi,Kavalan Avan Kovalan,Penmani Aval Kanmani,Varavu Nalla Uravu andVedikkai 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.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Visu became known for hosting live debates on television, namelyArattai Arangam onSun TV andVisuvin Makkal Arangam onJaya TV.^[15][16] 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]

This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(November 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

This is a list of films that he directed and/or wrote. He also acted in many of his own directed films.

Year	Title	Credited as			Role	Notes	Ref.
		Director	Writer	Actor
1977	Pattina Pravesam	N	Y	N	—		[21]
1978	Sadhurangam	N	Y	N	—	also dialogue writer	[22]
1980	Avan Aval Adhu	N	Y	N	—		[23]
1980	Mazhalai Pattalam	N	Y	N	—		[24]
1981	Thillu Mullu	N	Y	Y	As a film crew	Voice-Over Actor (Dubbing)	[25]
1981	Netrikkan	N	Y	N	—
1981	Keezh Vaanam Sivakkum	N	Y	N	—		[26]
1981	Kudumbam Oru Kadambam	N	Y	Y	Srinivasa Raghavan		[27]
1982	Kanmani Poonga	Y	Y	Y	Cricketer Ramkumar		[28]
1982	Simla Special	N	Y	N	—
1982	Manal Kayiru	Y	Y	Y	Uthramerur Narathar Naidu		[29]
1982	Puthukavithai	N	Y	N	—
1983	Dowry Kalyanam	Y	Y	Y	Ganesh		[21]
1984	Nallavanukku Nallavan	N	Y	Y	Owner Gangadharan		[30]
1984	Puyal Kadantha Boomi	Y	Y	Y	Nammaalu allies Namachivaayan
1984	Rajathanthiram	Y	Y	Y	Bairavan		[31]
1984	Vaai Sollil Veeranadi	Y	Y	Y	Vengapuli Varadhachari
1984	Naanayam Illatha Naanayam	Y	Y	Y	Veerapandi		[32]
1985	Pudhiya Sagaptham	Y	Y	Y	Ramadasaradan		[33]
1985	Aval Sumangalithan	Y	Y	Y	Watchman Aarumugam		[34]
1985	Ketti Melam	Y	Y	Y			[35]
1985	Chidambara Rahasiyam	Y	Y	Y	Beemarao		[36]
1986	Mr. Bharath	N	Y	Y	Kumaresa Gounder
1986	Dharma Pathini	N	Y	Y	Lawyer "Vicks" Vardarajan
1986	Samsaram Adhu Minsaram	Y	Y	Y	Ammaiyappa Mudaliyar	National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment	[37]
1987	Thirumathi Oru Vegumathi	Y	Y	Y	Naagarkoil Naadhamuni		[38]
1987	Kavalan Avan Kovalan	Y	Y	Y	Prabhu's Father-in-law		[39]
1987	Srimathi Oka Bahumathi	Y	Y	Y		Telugu film; remake ofThirumathi Oru Vegumathi
1988	Veedu Manaivi Makkal	N	N	Y	Subbaiah Pillai		[40]
1988	Penmani Aval Kanmani	Y	Y	Y	Radio Mama		[41]
1988	Aadade Aadharam	Y	Y	Y		Nandi Award for Second Best Story Writer Telugu film; remake ofPenmani Aval Kanmani	[42]
1988	Illu Illalu Pillalu	Y	Y	Y		Telugu film; remake ofVeedu Manaivi Makkal
1989	Sakalakala Sammandhi	Y	Y	Y	Mayavaram Malayappan
1990	Varavu Nalla Uravu	Y	Y	Y	Appa Ambalavanar	Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Story Writer	[43]
1990	Vedikkai En Vadikkai	Y	Y	Y	Kaavisattai Kandasamy		[44]
1992	Urimai Oonjaladugiradhu	Y	Y	Y	Kasturi's Father		[45]
1992	Neenga Nalla Irukkanum	Y	Y	Y		National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues	[46]
1994	Pattukottai Periyappa	Y	Y	Y	Pattukottai Periyappa		[47]
1994	Vaa Magale Vaa	Y	Y	Y	Viswanathan		[48]
1996	Meendum Savithri	Y	Y	Y	Narayana Moorthy		[49]
1996	Neti Savithri	Y	Y	N	—	Telugu film	[50]
2001	Sigamani Ramamani	Y	Y	Y	Sundaramoorthy		[51]
2016	Manal Kayiru 2	N	Y	Y	Uthramerur Narathar Naidu

This is a list of films that Visu worked only as an actor.

Television

• Arattai Arangam - Sun TV
• Makkal Arangam - Jaya TV
• Naalavathu Mudichu - Jaya TV^[52]

• Visu atIMDb

• 1945 births
• 2020 deaths
• 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights
• 20th-century Indian male actors
• 20th-century Indian male writers
• 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights
• 21st-century Indian male actors
• 21st-century Indian male writers
• Deaths from kidney failure in India
• Directors who won the Best Film on Other Social Issues National Film Award
• Directors who won the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment National Film Award
• Film directors from Tamil Nadu
• Indian film directors
• Indian male dramatists and playwrights
• Indian male film actors
• Male actors in Tamil cinema
• Screenwriters from Tamil Nadu
• Tamil dramatists and playwrights
• Tamil film directors
• Tamil male actors
• Television personalities from Tamil Nadu
• Tamil screenwriters

• CS1 Tamil-language sources (ta)
• Harv and Sfn no-target errors
• CS1: unfit URL
• CS1 Telugu-language sources (te)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use Indian English from January 2016
• All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English
• Use dmy dates from January 2016
• Articles with hCards
• Articles needing additional references from November 2022
• All articles needing additional references