Career
He started his career as a playwright and journalist and was associated with the famous theater group in South India called Kalanilayam. In a literary career spanning over 45 years, he had written 16 novels, 25 dramas and 19 radio plays and several lyrics for Malayalam movies. His song for the movie Thaalappoly (1977) was the biggest hit of the year.
He had written screenplays for 20 feature films, directed by veteran film makers M.Krishnan Nair, Madhu, Crossbelt Mani and M.Mani.
Viswanath worked as the Chief Editor for the Malayalam Dailies Thaniniram and Yeenadu for 45 years. He is the father of award-winning international film maker Biju Viswanath and Priya Prakash, Veena Player.