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.
Saritha is an Indian actress who has acted in more than 150 films and provided voice for many actress for more than 200 films in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu languages. She was one of the popular and critically acclaimed lead actresses during the 1980s. She also appeared in a television serial, Selvi. She is also credited as a dubbing artist. She has dubbed her voice for Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu movies for actresses like Nagma, Vijayashanti, Tabu, Sushmita Sen, Ramya Krishnan and Soundarya in 1990s.
Gangaraju, professionally known as Hamsalekha, is an Indian film composer and songwriter who works in South Indian cinema, predominantly in the Kannada film industry since the late 1980s. He is also a screenplay writer, dialogue writer, instrumentalist and conductor, having composed and written over 500 albums.
Vijaya Bhaskar was an Indian music director and composer who composed music for several mainstream and experimental feature films in the Kannada film industry. Scoring music for over 720 films, Bhaskar worked in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Tulu and Konkani language films as well. He was a part of all films of director KSL Swamy (Ravi) and also shared a great association with acclaimed directors Puttanna Kanagal and Adoor Gopalakrishnan.
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.
Snehitaru is a 2012 Indian Kannada-language action film written and directed by Ram Narayan and produced by Soundarya Jagadish. It has an ensemble cast including Vijay Raghavendra, Tarun Chandra, Pranitha, Srujan Lokesh, Ravishankar Gowda and Master Snehith. Popular actors Darshan and Nikita Thukral are making special appearances, with Darshan playing a pivotal role.
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.
Banker Margayya is 1983 Indian Kannada-language film directed by T. S. Nagabharana, based on the novel The Financial Expert by R. K. Narayan, and starring Lokesh in the lead role.
Varsha is a 2005 Indian Kannada-language comedy-drama film written and directed by S. Narayan, produced by Rockline Venkatesh under the banner of Rockline Productions. It stars Vishnuvardhan in the lead role with Ramesh Aravind, Anu Prabhakar and Manya in supporting roles. The film is the remake of the 1996 blockbuster Malayalam-language film Hitler. The story centers around the life of Satyamurthy (Vishnuvardhan), known for his tough character, domineering personality and uncontrolled rage at the youngsters of the area, for stalking his five young sisters. The film features original songs composed by S. A. Rajkumar. The film was a blockbuster, running for 200 days in multiple centers across Karnataka thus becoming the highest grossing Kannada film of the year.
Upasane is a 1974 Kannada musical drama film, directed by Puttanna Kanagal. The film produced by Rashi brothers, is based on the novel of the same name, written by Devaki Murthy. The film mostly had women playing the lead roles, consisting of Aarathi, Leelavathi, M. N. Lakshmi Devi, G. V. Sharadha and Advani Lakshmi Devi. Dr. Govinda Mannur, K. S. Ashwath and Seetharam played the male supporting roles. Actor Seetharam was colloquially named as "Upasane" Seetharam for the rest of his career after the release of this film.
Undoo Hoda Kondoo Hoda is a 1992 Indian Kannada-language satirical film written and directed by Nagathihalli Chandrashekar, making his debut in film direction. The film stars Anant Nag, Tara and Anjali Sudhakar, whilst M. S. Umesh, Tennis Krishna, Vijay Kashi and Maanu feature in other prominent roles. The film was produced under the Padmamba Combines banner.
Emme Thammanna is a 1966 Indian Kannada-language film produced and directed by B. R. Panthulu. It stars Rajkumar, Dikki Madhava Rao, Bharathi Vishnuvardhan. The supporting cast features Narasimharaju, Subbanna, Krishna Shastry, B. R. Panthulu, Papamma, Jaya and M. V. Rajamma. The film was remade in Telugu as Govula Gopanna (1968), in Hindi as Jigri Dost (1969) and in Tamil as Mattukara Velan (1970). This was the first social drama movie of Rajkumar where he played dual roles in a full-fledged manner excluding Malli Maduve where his second character appears only for three seconds. The core plot was loosely based on a Marathi play.
Sundara Swapnagalu is a 1986 Indian Kannada-language drama film directed by K. Balachander and written by Maniyan. The film featured Sridhar in the main role, along with Ramesh Aravind, making his on-screen debuts. Actress Tara, K. S. Ashwath and Vishwa Vijeth featured in the supporting roles. Produced by V. Natarajan of Kavithalaya Productions, the film had score and soundtrack were composed by Vijaya Bhaskar. The film was a remake of the director's own Tamil film Sollathaan Ninaikkiren.
December 31 is a 1988 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by Manobala, in his only Kannada film. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Urvashi, Jai Jagadish and Sulakshana.
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.
Kasturi Shankar is an Indian singer who sings mainly in Kannada language. She has recorded few films songs in Malayalam and Tulu languages and many non-film songs in Konkani, Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu and Hindi.
L. N. Shastri was an Indian playback singer and music composer who primarily worked in Kannada cinema. Starting his career as a playback singer in the film Ajagajantara (1991), Shastri went on to sing for more than 3000 songs. Upon his friends' suggestion, he renamed himself as Chaitanya and composed music for over 25 films starting with Kanasalu Neene Manasalu Neene (1998). However, he dropped the name due to the identity crisis for the film Bellary Naga (2009).
Mava Mava Maduve Mado is a 2000 Indian Kannada-language comedy drama film directed by Arjun and starring Kashinath, Tarun, Archana and Ruthu.
Karnataka Suputra is a 1996 Indian Kannada film written and directed by Vijay, his final film as director. The film stars Vishnuvardhan and Rituparna Sengupta in her Kannada debut.
