Vinu Chakravarthy – the unsung hero of Tamil Cinema

Vinu Chakravarthy remains an unsung hero of Tamil cinema. He was born on 15 December 1945 in Usilampatti. The eldest of three children, he began his working career in a 6-month stint as a Reserve sub-inspector before joining Southern Railways.

Vinu showed an early interest in films and joined Kannada filmmaker Puttana Kannagal as a scriptwriter when he was noticed by Tamil film producer Thiruppur Mani who gave him an important role in the Kannada film Parasangada Gendethimma. The remake of this film in Tamil as Rosapoo Ravikaikari saw Vinu Chakravarthy reprise his role and this marked his debut to the Tamil screen.

He went on to act in more than 1000 films, 900 of which were in Tamil. The 2007 film Muni (prequel to the successful Kanchana franchise) marked Vinu Chakravarthy’s 100^th film.

His last screen appearance was in the 2014 film Vaayai Moodi Pesavum.

Although Vinu Chakravarthy is best remembered for his comedy roles, he was in his element when he portrayed the villain, often portraying the main antagonist.

 He wrote the script for three films – Vandi Chakkaram, Koyil Puraa and Ponnuketha Purushan. He also co-directed Vandi Chakkaram which saw the debut of Vinu Chakaravarthy’s personal find – Vijayalakshmi– who was later rechristened as Silk Smitha.  He remained her well-wisher and was devastated when she committed suicide on 23 September 1996.

Vinu Chakravarthy passed away on 27 April 2017 at the age of 71.