Sampath Kumar, known by his stage name Vishnuvardhan, was an Indian actor predominantly in Kannada cinema. He is regarded as one of the popular cultural icon of Karnataka. Vishnuvardhan is often referred to as Sahasa Simha and The Angry Young Man of Kannada Cinema. He appeared in more than 220 films all together in Kannada, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu. He was called The Phoenix of Indian Cinema. He made his debut in the 1972 National Award winning film, Vamsha Vriksha, in a supporting role. The same year he played the lead role in Puttanna Kanagal's Naagarahaavu which was his breakthrough and he had won Filmfare Special Jury Award. He won Karnataka State Film Awards & Filmfare Awards South for best performance.
Krishna Nee Begane Baro is a famous classical song in Kannada language. It is composed in Raga Yamunakalyani by Vyasatirtha. The Tala is Misra chapu.
Saaheb is a 1985 Hindi movie directed by Anil Ganguly. The film stars Raakhee, Anil Kapoor, Amrita Singh, Deven Verma, Utpal Dutt, Biswajit, Vijay Arora, A. K. Hangal and Dilip Dhawan. The music is by Bappi Lahiri. It is a remake of 1981 Bengali film named Saheb directed by Bijoy Bose which was also remade as Vijetha (1985) in Telugu with Chiranjeevi, Karna (1986) in Kannada with Vishnuvardhan, and Chekkaeran Oru Chilla (1986) in Malayalam with Shankar.
Bandhana is a 1984 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by Rajendra Singh Babu from a screenplay by H. V. Subba Rao and Rajendra Singh Babu, based on a novel of the same name by Usha Navaratnanram. The film revolves around the relationship between a psychiatrist, Harish and his protégé Nandini. The film stars Vishuvardhan as Dr. Harish and Suhasini as his protégé Nandini, along with Jai Jagadish, Roopadevi and G. K. Govinda Rao in supporting roles.
Hunsur Ramachandra Bhagyachandra, known mononymously as Bhargava, is an Indian film director who worked primarily in Kannada cinema. Originally a producer, he came to be considered one of the best directors in Kannada cinema, and he was awarded the Puttanna Kanagal Award, the highest award in Kannada cinema, in 2012. he has directed 50 films.
Bhavya is an Indian actress. She has acted in several Kannada and a few Tamil and Telugu movies. She was a top heroine of Kannada cinema during 1985–1992. She switched over to key supporting roles post 2000. She is settled in Mumbai, India and travels frequently to Bangalore for her shoots.
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 which was successful at the box office. Vishnuvardhan and Anant Nag, both superstars, co-starred together for the first time. They would follow it up a few years later with Nishkarsha.
Hrudaya Geethe is a 1989 Indian Kannada-language romance film directed and produced by H. R. Bhargava. The story by Phani Ramachandra was loosely based on the 1970 movie Pagla Kahin Ka. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Bhavya and Khushbu. The film was widely appreciated for its songs and story upon release. The songs tuned by Rajan–Nagendra duo were huge hits.
Lion Jagapathi Rao is a 1991 Indian Kannada-language drama film, directed by Om Sai Prakash and written by Sainath Thotapalli, starring Vishnuvardhan in dual roles, along with Lakshmi and Bhavya. The film was produced by Sri Vinayaka Combines.
Preethigagi is a 2007 Indian Kannada language romance film directed by S. Mahendar. It is a remake of the 1997 Malayalam film Aniyathipraavu. The plot is of a love story between a Hindu boy and a Christian girl, whose relationship is not approved by their families, who eventually elope.
Pralayanthaka is a 1984 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by B. Subba Rao and produced by N. Veeraswamy. The film stars V. Ravichandran, Bhavya, Jai Jagadish, Rajeev and Vijay Kashi. The film has musical score by Shankar–Ganesh. The film was a remake of Tamil film Theerppu En Kaiyil.
Krishna Rukmini is a 1988 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by H. R. Bhargava and produced by Smt Suvarna Channanna. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Ramya Krishna, Hema Choudhary Devaraj and Mukhyamantri Chandru in the lead roles. The film became a superhit at the boxoffice.The film has musical score by K. V. Mahadevan.
Police Matthu Dada is a 1991 Indian Kannada-language action film, directed by Thulasi-Shyam and produced by R. F. Manik Chand and K. Nithyanand. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Sangeeta Bijlani, Roopa Ganguly and Srinath. The film has musical score by Bappi Lahiri. The film was simultaneously made in Hindi as Inspector Dhanush with slightly different supporting cast. The core plot of this movie was later re-used in Telugu as Vikramarkudu.
Simha Gharjane is a 1983 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar and produced by A. R. Raju. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Vijayashanti, Kalyan Kumar and Sharada. The film has musical score by Chellapilla Satyam.
Karna is a 1986 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by H. R. Bhargava and produced by B. Anuradha Singh, R. Dushyanth Singh and R. Amritha Singh. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Sumalatha, K. S. Ashwath and Sumithra. The film has musical score by M. Ranga Rao. The film was a remake of the 1981 Bengali film Saaheb which was earlier remade in Hindi as Saaheb.
Nammoora Raja is a 1988 Indian Kannada film, directed by H. R. Bhargava. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Manjula Sharma, Jai Jagadish and Mukhyamantri Chandru in the lead roles. The film was a superhit at the boxoffice. The film has musical score by Rajan–Nagendra. P. Vasu, the story writer of this film remade the movie in Tamil as Vaathiyaar Veettu Pillai.
Shivashankar is a 1990 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by H. R. Bhargava and produced by Bhargava and Rajaram. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Shobhana, Ramesh Bhat and Mukhyamantri Chandru. The film has musical score by Rajan–Nagendra. The core story line of the movie is inspired by the 1985 Hong Kong film Heart of Dragon, starring Jackie Chan, which was also later on used in the 1992 Hindi movie Jaan Se Pyaara - which followed the plot of the original but adapted the template of this movie by having the lead in dual roles of brothers.
Ravivarma is a 1992 Indian Kannada film, directed by Joe Simon and produced by Hemalatha Ramesh. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Bhavya and Rupini in lead roles. The film had musical score by Upendra Kumar. The film was a romantic drama which was successful at the box-office. The movie is a remake of the 1991 Tamil movie Bramma.
Sangrama (transl. Struggle) is a 1987 Indian Kannada language action crime film directed by K. V. Raju. The movie was a remake of Sunny Deol starrer 1985 hit movie Arjun. The movie was a flop at the box office.
Jana Nayaka is a 1988 Indian Kannada action drama directed by H. R. Bhargava, jointly produced by Bhargava and Rajaram, edited by Victor, starring Vishnuvardhan, Bhavya and Sudheer in the lead roles with Doddanna, Devaraj, Mukhyamantri Chandru, Ramesh Bhat, Sundar Krishna Urs, K. S. Ashwath, Rajanand and Umashree in the supporting roles. The film became a blockbuster at the box office. The Rajan–Nagendra duo composed and scored the film's soundtrack.
