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N. Viswanathan is a Actor Indian born on 1 january 1929 at Vellore (Inde)
N. Viswanathan (1929 – 17 November 2010), popularly known as Calcutta Viswanathan in the Tamil film industry, was an Indian actor and academic. A Tamilian by birth, he moved to Calcutta (now Kolkata) at a young age and joined St. Xavier's College, Calcutta as an English professor and continued to teach there for more than 40 years. Viswanathan was also a well-known public speaker. He started acting films after entering into the Bengali films by acting in Mrinal Sen's Punascha and Satyajit Ray's Kanchenjungha. In an acting career spanning over 40 years Viswanathan appeared in nearly 100 films in Bengali, Tamil and English. Viswanathan was a member several theatre groups and also formed the "Calcutta Players", an acting troupe.
Born into a Tamil family in Vellore, Viswanathan moved to Kolkata, West Bengal at an early age and had his education at St. Xavier's College, Kolkata and joined the college as a professor in English. Well known for his British accent, he was said to have had great command over English and Bengali languages. Viswanthan was also a public speaker and participated in numerous debates winning prizes for India. Labelling himself as a "Xaverian", he was also involved with Doordarshan, Kolkata.
Entry into films
While teaching at the college, he was offered a role in Punascha (1961), a Bengali film directed by Mrinal Sen. The film received a certificate of Merit for Third Best Feature Film in Bengali. Viswanathan then got a chance to act in another Bengali film titled Kanchenjungha (1962), directed by Satyajit Ray. The film had the distinction of being the first original screenplay and first colour film of Ray. Viswanathan received critical acclaim for his role in both the films. He became a favourite of Ray for his "urban [and] sophisticated image".
After the release of these two films, Viswanathan started acting in numerous films in Bengali, Tamil and English languages. Viswanathan entered the Tamil film industry in the 1970s and acted in many films such as Lalitha, Mogam Muppadhu Varusham and Moondru Mudichu, where he appeared as the father of Rajinikanth, who was an upcoming actor then. Other Tamil films released during the period include Kavarimaan and Balu Mahendra's psychological thriller Moodu Pani, where he was cast in a prominent role. Viswanathan was well remembered for his "pipe-smoking", a style which he adopted in most of the films.
Theatre group
Viswanathan was also a member of Utpal Dutt's "People's Little Theatre" (PLT) and later he formed his own group named "Calcutta Players".
Death
Viswanathan was suffering from prolonged illness for quite sometime before his death. He died at the age of 81 at his "Sarat Bose" residence in Kolkata on 17 November 2010. He is survived by his wife Paramita , son and grand daughter; son Ashoke Viswanathan, who is a film maker and grand daughter Anusha.
Source : Wikidata
N. Viswanathan
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Birth name Viswanathan
Nationality Inde
Birth 1 january 1929 at Vellore (Inde)
Death 17 november 2010 (at 81 years) at Kolkata (Inde)
Nationality Inde
Birth 1 january 1929 at Vellore (Inde)
Death 17 november 2010 (at 81 years) at Kolkata (Inde)
N. Viswanathan (1929 – 17 November 2010), popularly known as Calcutta Viswanathan in the Tamil film industry, was an Indian actor and academic. A Tamilian by birth, he moved to Calcutta (now Kolkata) at a young age and joined St. Xavier's College, Calcutta as an English professor and continued to teach there for more than 40 years. Viswanathan was also a well-known public speaker. He started acting films after entering into the Bengali films by acting in Mrinal Sen's Punascha and Satyajit Ray's Kanchenjungha. In an acting career spanning over 40 years Viswanathan appeared in nearly 100 films in Bengali, Tamil and English. Viswanathan was a member several theatre groups and also formed the "Calcutta Players", an acting troupe.
Biography
Early lifeBorn into a Tamil family in Vellore, Viswanathan moved to Kolkata, West Bengal at an early age and had his education at St. Xavier's College, Kolkata and joined the college as a professor in English. Well known for his British accent, he was said to have had great command over English and Bengali languages. Viswanthan was also a public speaker and participated in numerous debates winning prizes for India. Labelling himself as a "Xaverian", he was also involved with Doordarshan, Kolkata.
Entry into films
While teaching at the college, he was offered a role in Punascha (1961), a Bengali film directed by Mrinal Sen. The film received a certificate of Merit for Third Best Feature Film in Bengali. Viswanathan then got a chance to act in another Bengali film titled Kanchenjungha (1962), directed by Satyajit Ray. The film had the distinction of being the first original screenplay and first colour film of Ray. Viswanathan received critical acclaim for his role in both the films. He became a favourite of Ray for his "urban [and] sophisticated image".
After the release of these two films, Viswanathan started acting in numerous films in Bengali, Tamil and English languages. Viswanathan entered the Tamil film industry in the 1970s and acted in many films such as Lalitha, Mogam Muppadhu Varusham and Moondru Mudichu, where he appeared as the father of Rajinikanth, who was an upcoming actor then. Other Tamil films released during the period include Kavarimaan and Balu Mahendra's psychological thriller Moodu Pani, where he was cast in a prominent role. Viswanathan was well remembered for his "pipe-smoking", a style which he adopted in most of the films.
Theatre group
Viswanathan was also a member of Utpal Dutt's "People's Little Theatre" (PLT) and later he formed his own group named "Calcutta Players".
Death
Viswanathan was suffering from prolonged illness for quite sometime before his death. He died at the age of 81 at his "Sarat Bose" residence in Kolkata on 17 November 2010. He is survived by his wife Paramita , son and grand daughter; son Ashoke Viswanathan, who is a film maker and grand daughter Anusha.
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Filmography of N. Viswanathan (15 films)
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In the Forest... Again (2003)
, 2h3Directed by Goutam Ghose
Genres Drama
Actors Soumitra Chatterjee, Sharmila Tagore, Subhendu Chatterjee, Tabu, Champa, Roopa Ganguly
Rating56%
The film features the characters from Satyajit Ray's Aranyer Din Ratri, returning to the forest over thirty years later. Ashim, Sanjoy, Harinath and Aparna have grown old in this film; Shekhar has died. They set out on a journey to break off every link with civilisation for a few days. However, the trip turns sour when Ashim and Aparna's daughter, Amrita, goes missing. It transpires that she is being held for ransom by local tribespeople. Police intervene and the kidnapped girl is returned to her parents, albeit against her own wishes.
Baba (2002)
, 2h58Directed by Suresh Krissna
Genres Drama, Fantasy, Action
Actors Manisha Koirala, Rajinikanth, M. N. Nambiar, Ashish Vidyarthi, Goundamani, Vijayakumar
Roles Baba's Father
Rating53%
The film opens with the birth of Baba (Rajinikanth), who is a 'baba amsa sambhootudu'. Baba grows up as an atheist, hot-blooded man but a Good Samaritan. His life style includes consuming alcohol, smoking substances, chewing tobacco. His mother (Sujatha) and his maternal uncle (M. N. Nambiar) are ardent devotees of Mahavatar Babaji (the Baba who is supposed to be of 2000 years old and who live in Himalayas). Chamundeswari (Manisha Koirala) stays in the neighborhood of Baba's residence who often quarrels with baba but eventually falls in love with his style and falls for his attitude.
Padikkatha Pannayar (1985)
Genres Drama
Actors Sivaji Ganesan, K. R. Vijaya, Thengai Srinivasan, Anuradha, Y. G. Mahendran, V K Ramasamy
Enakkul Oruvan (1984)
, 2h29Directed by SP. Muthuraman
Genres Drama, Action
Themes Films about families, Films about religion
Actors Kamal Haasan, Aachi Manorama, Shobana, Sathyaraj, Sripriya, V K Ramasamy
Rating65%
Madan (Kamal Haasan) is a dancer by profession who is a dream boy of all young girls. Kalpana (Shobana),a young woman, is irritated by Madan's fame and she badly criticizes his performances which attracts attention of Madan on her. He challenges that he would make her long for him and his love, but he falls in love with her. He tries to win her love in several ways but eventually fails. One night he gets into her house with a face mask which makes Kalpana to misunderstand that he is a thief and screams and alerts her home. Madan is trapped and handed over to the police. Madan, who is a son of pickle businessman Ooruga Ulaganathan (V. K. Ramaswamy) rescues him from Police custody and finds the reason for incident to be his love for Kalpana. Kalpana's father, who is a psychiatrist, finds that Madan is the son of his old friend Ulaganathan. Madan-Kalpana's marriage is approved and fixed then.
Oh Maane Maane (1984)
Directed by Jagannathan
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Mohan, Urvashi, Thengai Srinivasan, N. Viswanathan, Venniradai Moorthy, Vadivukkarasi
, 1h51Actors Jaishankar, Poornima Bhagyaraj, Rajesh, N. Viswanathan, Raveendran (Ravindher)
Roles Rajarathinam (also Raja)
Gautam, a photo journalist with revolutionary ideas, leaves his job as his editor fails to publish the true happenings of the society in their newspaper. One of Gautam's friends suggests him to organize an art exhibition to showcase his paintings. During the event, he happens to meet Arundhati, a Bharathanatyam dancer, who is keen to stage a classical ballet on Nandanar, a tenth century dalit saint. Gautam suggests Arundhati to present it in a folk-art form rather than a classical-art form like Bharathanatyam to which she agrees.
Pudhiavan (1983)
, 2h27Actors Murali, Raveendran (Ravindher), N. Viswanathan, Delhi Ganesh, Rajeev, Charle
The Mist (1980)
, 2h11Directed by Balu Mahendra
Genres Thriller
Themes Medical-themed films, Films about sexuality, Erotic films, Films about prostitution, Serial killer films, Films about psychiatry, Films set in psychiatric hospitals
Actors Pratap K. Pothen, Shobha, N. Viswanathan, Mohan, Bhanu Chander, Ganthimathi
Roles Raghunath
Rating68%
Chandru (Pratap K. Pothen), the managing director of an export company in Bangalore, has a hatred for prostitutes since childhood, as he was the victim of a prostitute who ruined his family by taking his father away from his mother. Raghunath (N. Viswanathan) is a police inspector who knows Chandru and his mother. Raghunath's son Ravi (Bhanu Chander) is engaged to Rekha (Shoba).
Kavari Maan (1979)
Directed by SP. Muthuraman
Actors Sivaji Ganesan, Sridevi, Vijayakumar, S. Varalakshmi, Sundarrajan, Ravichandran
Rating60%
Lalitha (1976)
Actors Gemini Ganesan, Sujatha, Kamal Haasan, Sumithra, Pandari Bai, N. Viswanathan
Roles Sujatha's father
Rating63%
Moondru Mudichu (1976)
Directed by Kailasam Balachander
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Sridevi, N. Viswanathan
Roles The unnamed widower
Rating74%
Prasath (Rajinikanth) and Balaji (Kamal Hassan) are room-mates in a city. Balaji falls in love with Selvi (Sridevi) who lives in the same apartment complex. Prasath, who has his eyes on Selvi, pretends to back Balaji's love while secretly hoping to create a divide between them. Selvi realizes Prasath's evil intentions when she finds out that he has seduced an innocent girl living in the same apartment complex. However, she is unable to convince Balaji, who hero-worships Prasath.
Kanchenjungha (1962)
, 1h42Directed by Satyajit Ray
Genres Drama
Actors Chhabi Biswas, Karuna Banerjee, Anil Chatterjee, Pahari Sanyal, Subrata Sen, Vidya Sinha
Roles Bannerjee
Rating77%
A wealthy family from Calcutta is on the last day of their vacation in Darjeeling, a hill station at the foot of Mount Kanchenjungha, the second highest peak of the Himalayas. Until now, they have been unable to catch a glimpse of the peak Kanchenjungha.The family members are dominated by the father, Indranath (Chhabi Biswas), an industrialist. He wants his daughter to marry a man of his choice and hopes that the man will propose if they are left together alone for some time.