As a dozen artistes of Viswasanthi troupe take turns in delivering their dialogues, the rehearsal session of ‘Konjam Yosinga Boss’, a Tamil drama, turns out to be a little serious. Monitoring the dialogues, tone, diction and length of each and every line was stage artiste, actor, writer and director M.R. Viswanathan, popularly known as Visu.
Clad in black trousers and a crisp white shirt, the 69-plus actor appears to be as enthusiastic as ever when he talks about his two-hour-long playlet and his undying passion for acting. Treating the Tamil audiences of the city to the drama at a programme organised here by Tamil Kalai Mandram, he says that ‘Konjam Yosinga Boss’ carries elements of humour and a social message.
Talking to The Hindu , he says, “I began my life as a stage artiste during my school days. Though I have been switching roles as an artiste and an actor, I have never left the stage.”
Different rolesDonning different roles as a stage artiste, actor, director, scriptwriter, dialogue-writer in the world of cinema, Visu says that his 20-year-long stint as a show host of ‘Makkal Arangam’, one of the popular Tamil television talk shows, added value to his career graph. “Every episode was a unique experience as the narrative inspired me to a great extent. The platform helped me to reach out to wider section of viewers and connect emotionally with them,” the actor says.
After churning out hit films in Tamil like ‘Kudumbam Oru Kadambam’, ‘Samsaram Adu Minsaram’ and ‘Manal Kayiru’ and a few in Telugu, Visu says that cinema is an excellent medium to pass on a meaningful message. “However, these days the content of the cinema is focused more on negative elements rather than the positive ones. This trend should be changed,” he suggests.
Visu’s films have always been hard-hitting as his stories revolve round family drama. “I want to watch movies with my family without feeling embarrassed. Unfortunately, the present cinema portrays more glamour and glitz than human values,” he says.
