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 among 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 drama film written and directed by Vikraman. The film stars Vijayakanth in a dual role. The supporting cast includes Meena, Prabhu Deva, Livingston, Kausalya and Anju Aravind. Produced by V. Ravichandran under Oscar Films, the film's music was composed by S. A. Rajkumar and the 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.
Pudhu Vasantham is a 1990 Indian Tamil-language musical drama film, written and directed by Vikraman. The film stars Murali, Anand Babu, Raja, Charle and Sithara. It revolves around a woman who, due to circumstances, ends up cohabitating with four men in a platonic friendship.
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, Pandu and Visweswara Rao 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 the 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 in lead roles withBalakrishna, K. S. Ashwath, Leelavathi and Sampath playing supporting roles. The film, along with Mooruvare Vajragalu was Rajkumar's last movie in black-and-white.
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. 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.
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 is a remake of Tamil film Dowry Kalyanam (1983).
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.
Maa Annayya is a 2000 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by Ravi Raja Pinisetty. The film stars Dr. Rajasekhar and Meena with Maheswari, Brahmaji, Vineeth, Deepti Bhatnagar, Preetha Vijayakumar and Nassar in supporting roles. The film's soundtrack was composed by S. A. Rajkumar. The film was released in 2000 to positive reviews. The film was a remake of the Tamil film Vaanathaippola (2000). The film became a box-office super hit.
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.
