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 ‘Konjam Yosinga Boss’ and his undying passion for acting. Treating the Tamil audiences of the city to the drama at the recent programme organised by Tamil Kalai Mandram, he says that his playlet carries elements of humour, typical dialogues and a social message.
Speaking 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.”
Donning different roles as a stage artiste, actor, director, scriptwriter, dialogue-writer in the cinema world, Visu says that his 20-year-long stint as a show host of ‘Makkal Arangam’, one of the popular television talk shows, added value to his career graph. “Every episode was a different experience and the narrative inspired me a lot. The platform helped me to reach out to wider 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’, 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. The impact would be really effective if this trend changes,” he says.
Visu’s films have always been hard-hitting as his stories revolve around family drama. “I want to watch movies with my family without feeling embarrassed. Unfortunately, the current films portray more glamour and fewer values,” he reasons.
