"Unna padikka vechen, avana paNayamaa vechen.
Unna Karuppu gown maati azhagu paaka, avanukku Kaakhi uniform maatinen.
Nee Degree vaangarthuku avan kai le Degree glass ah kuduthen.
Unna College ku anupinen, avana Garage ku anupinen"
Ammayappan Mudhaliar's immortal words in Samsaram Adhu Minsaram while chiding his eldest son Chidambaram for being disrespectful to his younger brother Siva. While admitting that he discriminated between his sons, the protagonist brings out the contrast in their trajectories in life. The beauty of the alliterations in these Tanglish sentences is not lost on the audience, thanks to the superb dialogue delivery by Visu himself.
Yes, I do know many Visu movie dialogues by heart. There are those who think that his movies were ridiculous. There is some truth in some of the criticism. For example, the way he treated feminism and female characters, but one needs to consider the nuance involved. There were movies in which he seemed to relegate women to the position of second class citizens who were expected to obey their husbands and stomach difficulties with the demeanor of a duck on water. On the other hand, within the constraints of those times, he did portray the silent strength of women. Uma (Samsaram Adhu Minsaram) orchestrates the reunion of the family even though she has no direct decision making powers. The women in Kudumbam oru Kadhambam demonstrate their tenacity by braving storms and earning the respect of their menfolk. These movies were not revolutionary in terms of women breaking the mold but every woman in the 80s and 90s could relate to them and their struggles.
The importance of on-screen representation is old news to us today. In the 80s and 90s, when Tamil cinema shamelessly cast women exclusively for the "glamour" quotient, Visu's movies were indeed a breath of fresh air. His heroines dressed like your neighbor and rarely wore make up. The sets resembled your home. The central plot in the movie revolved around a common middle-class issue like property disputes, family budget, marital discord, greed, care of aging parents and dowry. What set Visu's movies apart was the clever screenplay, the dialogues and the climax which was usually shot in the pillared courtyard of a South Indian home and of course, the lead character played by Visu himself. He was the "Mama" with a manja pai. He loved food, respected women (in the 80s way) and elders and valued family above all else. He was resourceful and came up with out of the box ideas to rescue the family and bring justice to those who deserved it. Best of all, the movies (with the exception of Varavu Nalla Uravu) ended on a happy note.
Who wouldn't love a super hero in veshti with manja pai?
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