Vishnu Vishal

Early life

Vishal Kudawla was born on 17 July 1980 to Ramesh Kudawla, Director general of police of Tamil Nadu. He finished his schooling in Holy Cross Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Vellore. After completing his MBA in marketing from SRM Institute of Science and Technology, he went on to become a cricketer, playing in TNCA league games. He entered the film industry with the stage name Vishnu to which he later added his birth name.

Career

2009–2014

After being offered a role by Anand Chakravarthy in Suseenthiran's directorial debut Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu, Vishnu spent months preparing for the role. He had to tan his body sitting for hours in the sun to get dark and look like a player and then for 3 months he trained for kabaddi matches under a coach, for five hours a day. He had two releases in 2010, portraying an action role in the comedy Bale Pandiya and then played a rowdy from Royapuram in Drohi. Featuring alongside Srikanth in the latter, Vishnu had to put on 15 kg to look mature for the role. He subsequently worked on the comedy, Kullanari Koottam, After a year without any releases, he had two releases in 2014: the romantic comedy Mundasupatti under Thirukumaran Entertainment and the sports drama Jeeva for which he collaborated with Suseenthiran again. Both films won positive reviews and performed well at the box office.

2015–2018

In 2015, he appeared in the science and fiction comedy Indru Netru Naalai directed by R.Ravikumar. The movie was a super hit at the box office. Vishnu had two releases in 2016. His first release of the year was also his first production venture, the comedy film Velainu Vandhutta Vellaikaaran directed by Ezhil, with Nikki Galrani in the female lead. The movie was one of the most profitable ventures at the box office. His final release of the year was Maveeran Kittu, a period drama set in the 1980s. Despite receiving positive reviews, the movie did well at the box office. He finished shooting for Seenu Ramasamy's Idam Porul Yaeval. His next films are Kathanayagan (2017), Raatchasan (2018) and Silukkuvarupatti Singam (2018) directed by a first time film maker, Chella.

2021–present

In 2021, the Prabhu Solomon's Kaadan has received mixed reviews from the audience and critics alike. He played a Muslim in the film FIR (2022), which touched upon the sensitive issue of branding Muslims as terrorists. The film was banned in Malaysia, Kuwait and Qatar. In the same year, the actor played a wrestler in the family entertainer Gatta Kusthi co-starring Aishwarya Lekshmi and co-produced by Telugu actor Ravi Teja. Then, Vishnu plays one of the two heroes in the film in Lal Salaam (2024), which featured Rajinikanth in a guest appearance. Vishnu Vishal produced and acted in Krishnakumar Ramakumar's romantic drama Oho Enthan Baby (2025), co-starring his cousin Rudra and Mithila Palkar.

Personal life

Vishnu Vishal was married to Rajini Natraj, daughter of the actor K. Natraj. The two were college-mates and were in a relationship for four years before getting married. Their wedding took place on 2 December 2010 at Hotel Asiana in Chennai, and their son Aryan was born in 2017. In November 2018, the couple divorced due to undisclosed reasons.

Vishnu got engaged to badminton player Jwala Gutta in September 2020. Their wedding took place on 22 April 2021 in Hyderabad. The couple has a daughter born in 2025. Aamir Khan named their child Mira.

Filmography

References

References

1. Rao, Subha J.. (4 October 2018). "What made Vishnu Vishal act in the thriller 'Ratchasan'?". [[The Hindu]].
2. "Vishal Kudawla".
3. (5 February 2009). "Vishnu – A new hero in Kollywood".
4. Srinivasa, Ramanujam. (12 September 2014). "Three cheers to cinema!". [[The Hindu]].
5. Shilpa Kappur, Vasudevan. (6 October 2014). "Introvert Turned Lover Boy in College". [[The New Indian Express]].
6. (8 July 2025). "Vishnu Vishal & Rudra Interview With Baradwaj Rangan | Oho Enthan Baby | Conversation | Part 3".
7. Rinku, Gupta. (30 April 2014). "Vishnu Says Mundasupatti brings out his Lighter Side". [[The New Indian Express]].
8. (21 August 2010). "Vishnu is back in action".
9. (7 September 2010). "Drohi will be different: Vishnu".
10. Subha, J Rao. (29 November 2014). "What a shot!". [[The Hindu]].
11. (3 October 2014). "Vishnu's next is Indru Netru Naalai". [[The Times of India]].
12. (14 October 2013). "Vishnu joins Vijay Sethupathi". [[The Times of India]].
13. (26 March 2021). "Kaadan first reviews out. Netizens call Rana Daggubati film well-intentioned".
14. "FIR review. FIR Tamil movie review, story, rating".
15. (2022-02-11). "FIR: Vishnu Vishal-Led Action Thriller Gets Banned In Malaysia, Kuwait & Qatar".
16. S, Srivatsan. (2022-11-29). "Vishnu Vishal on 'Gatta Kusthi': I want to expand my market in Malayalam and Telugu". The Hindu.
17. "Vishnu Vishal: 'Lal Salaam was my film, Rajinikanth sir was supposed to do only 25 minutes'".
18. Radhakrishnan, Manjusha. (10 July 2025). "How Vishnu Vishal went from cricketer to Tamil cinema's 'accidental actor'".
19. "Vishnu weds Rajini".
20. Vishnu Vishal. (31 January 2018). "HAPPY 'FURST' BDAY TO MY SON 'ARYAN' :):) SPECIAL DAY :) thnx @maanavicky for d super cake:)".
21. (13 November 2018). "Vishnu Vishal is officially divorced!". [[The Times of India]].
22. (7 September 2020). "Vishnu Vishal got engaged with badminton player".
23. (22 April 2021). "Jwala Gutta and Vishnu Vishal get hitched in an intimate ceremony".
24. (22 April 2025). "Actor Vishnu Vishal, badminton player Jwala Gutta welcome baby girl".
25. (19 July 2018). "Vishnu Vishal's Next Will Be Bankrolled By Dhanush's Wunderlust Films".
26. Srinivasan, Pavithra. "Bale Pandiya could have been better".
27. "DROHI MOVIE REVIEW - TAMIL MOVIE DROHI MOVIE REVIEW".
28. Srinivasan, Pavithra. "Review: Kullanari Koottam's a feel-good love story".
29. "Neerparavai Movie Review neerparavai".
30. "Mundasupatti (aka) Mundasupatti review".
31. "Jeeva (aka) Jeeva review".
32. "The Unreleased Status Of Naragasooran & These Other Tamil Films Lingers On & On!".
33. (26 June 2015). "Indru Netru Naalai (aka) Indru Naetru Naalai review".
34. (3 June 2016). "Velainu Vandhutta Vellaikaaran (aka) Vishnu review".
35. (2 December 2016). "Maaveeran Kittu (aka) Maaveeran Kittu review".
36. (4 July 2020). "Kathanayagan review: This Vishnu Vishal film produces intermittent smiles rather than laughs".
37. (6 October 2018). "Ratsasan movie review: Vishnu Vishal's cop act is superlative but this thriller could've done with some trimming".
38. (22 December 2018). "Silukkuvaarupatti Singam (aka) Silukkuvaarpatti Singam review".
39. "Kaadan review: Watch it for Rana's earnest performance".
40. "Aranya Movie Review: An engaging ride". The Times of India.
41. (11 March 2022). "FIR: Release date and time for Vishal's hit movie on Amazon Prime Video".
42. (29 July 2022). "Vishnu Vishal shares BTS pictures from 'Gatta Kusthi'".
43. (26 November 2022). "Vishnu Vishal confirms he plays a cricketer in Aishwarya Rajinikanth's Lal Salaam".
44. (2024-02-12). "Vishnu Vishal's brother Rudra to make his acting debut with 'Oho Enthan Baby'". The Times of India.
45. (3 September 2022). "Vishnu Vishal's next, A.A.R.Y.A.N.".
46. (2025-03-16). "Vishnu Vishal's third film with director Ramkumar titled 'Irandu Vaanam'". The Times of India.
47. (16 March 2022). "Vishnu Vishal's 'Mohandas' teaser is here and is highly intriguing - Tamil News".