Narayanswamy Viswanathan (18 July 1929 – 17 November 2010), popularly known as Calcutta Viswanathan in the

Tamil film industry Tamil cinema is the segment of cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of Film, motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the nam ...

, was an Indian actor and academic. A

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

by birth, he moved to

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

(now Kolkata) at a young age and taught English at

St. Xavier's College, Calcutta St. Xavier's College is a Private university, private, Catholic, autonomous college in Kolkata, India. It is run by the Calcutta Province of the Society of Jesus. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1860 and named after Francis Xavier, St. Franc ...

for more than 40 years. Viswanathan was also a well-known public speaker. He made his acting debut in

Mrinal Sen Mrinal Sen ( ; 14 May 1923 – 30 December 2018) was a Bengali film director and screenwriter known for his work primarily in Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali, and a few Hindi cinema, Hindi and Telugu cinema, Telugu language films. Regarded as on ...

's '' Punascha'' and continued to act in Bengali films. In a career that spanned 40 years, Viswanathan appeared in nearly 100 films in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and English. He was a member several theatre groups and also formed the "Calcutta Players", an acting troupe.

Biography

Early life

Born into a Tamil family in

Vellore Vellore ( ), also spelled Velur, is a sprawling city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Palar River and surrounded by the Javadi Hills in the northeastern ...

, Viswanathan moved to

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

at an early age. He was educated at St. Xavier's College, Kolkata and joined the same college as a professor in English. He had great command over English and Bengali languages, and was particularly well known for his

British accent Spoken English shows great variation across regions where it is the predominant language. The United Kingdom has a wide variety of accents, and no single "British accent" exists. This article provides an overview of the numerous identifiable ...

. Viswanthan was also a public speaker who participated in numerous debates and won accolades for India. He also has a short stint with

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

, Kolkata.

Entry into films

While teaching at the college, he was offered a role in '' Punascha'' (1961), a Bengali film directed by

. 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 Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligraphy, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influ ...

. 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 ndsophisticated image". After the release of these two films, Viswanathan got numerous offers in Bengali, Tamil and English languages. He entered the

in the 1970s and acted in films such as '' Lalitha'', '' Mogam Muppadhu Varusham'' and ''

Moondru Mudichu ''Moondru Mudichu'' () is a 1976 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language romantic thriller film directed and co-written by K. Balachander. A remake of the Telugu language, Telugu film ''O Seeta Katha'' (1973), it stars Kamal Haasan, Sridevi and R ...

'', alongside prominent actors. Other Tamil films released during the period include '' Kavari Maan'' and

Balu Mahendra Balanathan Benjamin Mahendran (20 May 1939 13 February 2014), commonly known as Balu Mahendra, was a Sri Lankan Tamil cinematographer, director, screenwriter and film editor who worked in various Indian film industries, primarily in Tamil ...

's ''

Moodu Pani ''Moodu Pani'' () is a 1980 Indian Tamil-language psychological thriller film written, directed and filmed by Balu Mahendra. Starring his then wife Shoba and Pratap, with N. Viswanathan, Gandhimathi, Mohan and Bhanu Chander in supporting ...

'', where he was cast in a prominent role. Viswanathan was well known for his "pipe-smoking", a style which he adopted in most of the films.

Theatre group

Viswanathan was also a member of

Utpal Dutt Utpal Dutt (; 29 March 1929 – 19 August 1993) was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the "Little The ...

's "People's Little Theatre" (PLT), and later formed his own group named "Calcutta Players".

Death

Viswanathan had prolonged illness for a long time before his death. He died at the age of 81 at his "Sarat Bose" residence in

on 17 November 2010. He is survived by his wife Paramita, a son and a grand daughter. His son Ashoke Viswanathan is a film maker.

Partial filmography

* '' Punascha'' (1961) * '' Kanchenjungha'' (1962) as Mr. Banerjee * '' Barnali'' (1963) * '' Subhashchandra''(1966) * '' Parichay'' (1972) * '' Je Jekhane Dariye'' (1974) * ''

'' (1976) * '' Lalitha'' (1976) * '' Mogam Muppadhu Varusham'' (1976) * '' Kavarimaan'' (1979) * ''Dour'' (1979) * ''

'' (1980) * '' Kann Sivanthaal Mann Sivakkum'' (1983) * '' Vellai Roja'' (1983) * '' Enakkul Oruvan'' (1984) * '' Nilavu Suduvathillai'' (1984) * '' Padikkadha Pannaiyar'' (1985) * The Peacock Spring (1996) *

Aparajita Aparajita was an able Shilahara ruler of north Konkan branch from 975 CE – 1010 CE. Chhadvaideva was followed by his nephew Aparajita, the son of Vajjada. Aparajita was an ambitious king. He sought to extend his sphere of influence by ...

(1998) * '' Kichhhu Sanlap Kichhu Pralap'' (1999) * '' Baba'' (2002) * ''Andhakaer Shabdo'' (2006) * ''Byaticromi'' (2006)

Notes

References

* Mr. N. Viswanathan was an English news reader also in Calcutta Doordarshan TV channel and used to host Bournvita Quiz contest in radio.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Viswanathan.N 1929 births 2010 deaths Academic staff of St. Xavier's College, Kolkata Indian male film actors Indian male stage actors People from Vellore Male actors in Tamil cinema Male actors in Bengali cinema