‘Vietnam Veedu' Sundaram passes away

CHENNAI, AUG 06:  Veteran South Indian film director and scriptwriter “Vietnam Veedu’ Sundaram passed away in Chennai on Friday night. He was 76 and is survived by his wife and two daughters. Sundaram was born in Tiruchi and 'Vietnam Veedu' became part of his name after he wrote the script, first for theatre and then for the film, starring Sivaji Ganesan. He cut his teeth in the United Amateur Artists run by

Y.G. Parthasarathy. 'Prestige Padmanaban', the hero of the film Vietnam Veedu, became synonymous with a workaholic employee, who stood for values in life, but was not taken seriously by his children.

"The story is based on Aruthur Miller's Death of a salesman and Vietnam is a metaphor," said Venkatesh Chakravarthy, Regional Director and HOD-Direction at the LV Prasad Film & TV Academy, Chennai.

Mr. Chakravarthy said Sundaram's audience were urban middle class and he gave a touch of classicism in his films and it is best exemplified by Sivaji starrer Gowravam, 'Barrister Rajinikant', the hero of the film, had close resemblance to late advocate Govind Swaminathan, who excelled in every branch of law.

"He also wrote the script for Gnanaoli, a film adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. All his films gave a lot of space for Sivaji Ganesan to delve deep into the characters he was doing, said Mr. Chakravarathy.

But Vietnam Veedu also came under criticism, especially from the Communist circle. "They felt that Sundaram had relegated to a family affair a great war against the US imperialism by the people of a small country," said poet Kalapriya, who has penned two books on Tamil cinema.

Sundaram's Naan Yen Piranthen, is the only film in which MGR played a role of a family man. Another film Sundaram wrote for MGR was Naalai Namathey.

"Namma Veetu Theivam is a trend setter in a sense social-mythological film, set in contemporary times but intervention of deities in every day life. Actress K.R. Vijaya proved that she best suited for such roles," said Kalapriya.

Sundaram also acted in a few films and directed a lot of teleserials.