Sampath Kumar, known by his stage name Vishnuvardhan, was an Indian actor who worked predominantly in Kannada cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam language films. Vishnuvardhan has a prolific career spanning over four decades, during which he has acted in more than 220 films. A popular cultural icon of Karnataka, and holds the status of a matinée idol amongst the Kannada diaspora. He is popularly called as Sahasa Simha, Dada and The Angry Young Man of Kannada Cinema. Vishnuvardhan's contributions to Kannada cinema have been praised by his contemporaries in the Indian film industry. The Government of Karnataka honoured him with the Rajyothsava Prashasthi in 1990 and the Dr. Rajkumar Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 for his contributions to Kannada cinema. He was called The Phoenix of Indian Cinema. In 2008, a poll conducted by CNN-IBN listed Vishnuvardhan as the most popular star in the Kannada film industry.
Daddy is a 2001 Indian Telugu-language family drama film directed by Suresh Krissna. It stars Chiranjeevi, Simran and Ashima Bhalla, with music composed by S. A. Rajkumar. The film was produced by Allu Aravind under the Geetha Arts banner. The film was dubbed into Tamil and Hindi as Dance Master and Meri Izzat in 2003 and 2008 respectively.
Vaanathaippola is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language family drama film written and directed by Vikraman. The film stars Vijayakanth in dual role. The supporting cast include Meena, Prabhu Deva, Livingston, Kausalya and Anju Aravind. Produced by V. Ravichandran under Oscar Films, the film has a score and soundtrack composed by S. A. Rajkumar and cinematography handled by Arthur A. Wilson. The film tells the story of a caring brother who makes sacrifices to ensure his three younger brothers succeed in life.
Gandhada Gudi is a 1973 Indian Kannada-language action drama film directed by Vijay and produced by M. P. Shankar. Rajkumar in his 150th film portrays an honest forest officer Kumar while Vishnuvardhan plays the antagonist, Anand, though his character is redeemed at the end of the film. Kalpana, M. P. Shankar, Narasimharaju and Balakrishna performed other important roles.
Aaptharakshaka is a 2010 Kannada horror film directed by P. Vasu and written by V. R. Bhaskar. The film stars Vishnuvardhan in his 200th Kannada film and posthumous film, along with an ensemble cast including Vimala Raman, Sandhya, Bhavana Ramanna, Avinash, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, and Komal Kumar. The film is a sequel to the 2004 Kannada blockbuster film Apthamitra also directed by P. Vasu.
Maurya is a 2004 Kannada language sports drama film directed by S. Narayan. The film starred Puneeth Rajkumar, Roja Selvamani and Meera Jasmine in lead roles. This film is produced by Rockline Venkatesh. It is the remake of 2003 Telugu movie, Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi.
Cheppave Chirugali is a 2004 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film directed by Vikraman. The film stars Venu Thottempudi, Abhirami and Ashima Bhalla. It is the Telugu remake of his own 2002 Tamil film Unnai Ninaithu with Ramji and Pandu reprising their roles and Ramesh Khanna in a different role. It was produced by Venkata Shyam Prasad under SP Entertainments.
Matthe Hadithu Kogile is a 1990 Indian Kannada film, directed by H. R. Bhargava and produced by S. Shankar. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Baby Shyamili, Anant Nag, Bhavya and Rupini. The film has musical score by Rajan–Nagendra. The film was a romantic drama. Vishnuvardhan and Anant Nag co-starred together for the first time. They would follow it up a few years later with Nishkarsha.
Yajamana is a 2000 Indian Kannada-language film directed by R. Sheshadri and Radha Bharathi. The film is a remake of Tamil film Vaanathaippola which released at the beginning of same year. The movie became an Industry hit by creating many records. The film stars Dr.Vishnuvardhan, Prema, Shashikumar and Abhijeeth.
Doorada Betta is a 1973 Kannada-language film directed by Siddalingaiah. The film starred Rajkumar and Bharathi Vishnuvardhan. It had Balakrishna, K. S. Ashwath and Sampath playing supporting roles. The film, along with Mooruvare Vajragalu (1973), was Rajkumar's last movie in black-and-white. However, this movie had a few sequences shot in colour. This was also the last film where Rajkumar and Bharathi were seen together. This was also Rajkumar's last collaboration with Siddalingaiah. The film is seen as a landmark in the career of Siddalingaiah. The movie saw a theatrical run of 25 weeks.
Sirivantha is a 2006 Indian Kannada-language film starring Vishnuvardhan. This film was directed by S. Narayan. It was the sixth and last film of the Vishnu-Narayan combination. Sirivantha followed the other five Vishnu-Narayan films Veerappa Nayaka, Surya Vamsha, Simhadriya Simha, Jamindaru and Varsha. The movie is a remake of 2004 Telugu movie Aa Naluguru.
Deva is a 1989 Indian Kannada-language romantic action film, starring Vishnuvardhan and Rupini. The film was directed by Vijay and written by M. D. Sundar.
Habba (transl. Festival) is a 1999 Indian Kannada-language drama film written and directed by D. Rajendra Babu. The film has an ensemble cast including Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh, Devaraj, Jayapradha, Urvashi, Shashikumar, Ramkumar, Vijayalakshmi, Kasthuri and Charulatha. The movie was produced by Bharathi Devi for Chinni Chitra productions. The movie became a blockbuster and ran for more than 25 weeks. The film was remade in Telugu in 2002 as Chandravamsam starring Krishna. The movie was loosely based on the Pandavas's exile episode in the Virata Parva of Mahabharata.
Kotigobba is a 2001 Indian Kannada-language action film starring Vishnuvardhan, Priyanka Upendra and Ashish Vidyarthi. The film was a remake of Rajinikanth's 1995 Tamil film Baashha which itself was inspired from the 1991 Hindi movie Hum. This movie was directed by Naganna and features soundtrack from Deva who also composed the music for the Tamil version. Vishnuvardhan was nominated for Filmfare Best Actor category.
School Master is a 2010 Indian Kannada language political-drama film directed by Dinesh Babu and produced by C. R. Manohar. The film stars Vishnuvardhan and Suhasini Maniratnam teaming up with the director yet again after Suprabhatha (1988) and Hendthigeltheeni. Also in the cast are Tara, Avinash, Devaraj and Mukesh Rishi. V. Sridhar composed the music for the film while the cinematography is by the director himself.
Maduve Madu Thamashe Nodu is a 1984 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by Sathya and produced by Dwarakish. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Aarathi, Dwarkish, Mahalakshmi and Jai Jagadish. The film has a musical score by Vijayanand. The movie is a remake of the 1983 Tamil movie, Dowry Kalyanam.
Gange Gowri is a 1967 Indian Kannada-language film, directed and produced by B. R. Panthulu. The film stars Rajkumar, Bharathi, Leelavathi and K. S. Ashwath. The film has musical score by T. G. Lingappa. The movie was remade in Tamil by B. R. Panthulu himself in 1973 as Ganga Gowri.
Ellaranthalla Nanna Ganda is a 1997 Indian Kannada film, directed by S. Umesh and produced by K. Prabhakar. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Prema, Umashree and Tara in the lead roles. The film has musical score by Upendra Kumar.
Thambi Arjuna is a 2010 Tamil-language action film directed by Vijay R. Anand. The film stars Ramana, newcomer Feroz Khan and Ashima Bhalla, with Arun Pandian, Suman, newcomer Sharmila, Bala Singh and Rajendran playing supporting roles. It was released on 30 July 2010. It is dubbed into hindi as Bhai Arjuna.
