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.
Pokkiri (transl. Rogue) is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Prabhu Deva and produced by Kanagarathna Movies. It is the Tamil remake of the 2006 Telugu film Pokiri directed by story writer Puri Jagannadh. The film stars Vijay in the lead role alongside Asin, Prakash Raj, Nassar, Mukesh Tiwari, Vadivelu, Sriman, Anandaraj, Napoleon, Vincent Asokan, Subbaraju and Master Bharath. The film is about a young IPS officer who works for Police Commissioner Mohammed Maideen Khan IPS and goes undercover as a rogue to take out the anti-socials.
Girija known by her screen name Shruti, is an Indian actress, television personality and politician. She is Winner of Biggboss Kannada Season 3, as an actress, she predominantly appears in Kannada film industry. She is currently serving as chief secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party's women's wing in its Karnataka cadre.
Maathaad Maathaadu Mallige, is a 2007 Kannada-language film directed by Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar starring Vishnuvardhan. The film depicts the challenges faced by the people living in rural areas of India.
Veerappa Nayaka is a 1999 Indian Kannada-language biographical film, directed by S. Narayan, starring Vishnuvardhan and Shruti. It is a story of a Gandhian's son turning into a terrorist. This was also the first film in Vishnuvardhan and Narayan's combination and the movie ran for 50 weeks at the box office. This film is quite important in studying the history of the production of the Indian flag through the ages. The film uses the location of garag village, which was the place where the flag was made by a weaving village before it was certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
Arasu (Search/King) is a 2007 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by Mahesh Babu. It features Puneeth Rajkumar in the title role as the son of a business tycoon who leaves his inherited wealth to make a living on his own upon being rejected by a girl played by Ramya who he proposes to in marriage. When a middle-class girl played by Meera Jasmine enters their lives, it soon turns out to be a love triangle. Srinivasa Murthy, Komal and Adi Lokesh appear in supporting roles. Kannada film actors Darshan and Aditya made cameo appearance. Actress Shriya Saran also made a cameo appearance in the film, her first Kannada language film. The movie was dubbed in Hindi as Zinda Dili and in Marathi as Premachi Satva Pariksha.
Jadalathimmanahalli Krishnappa Srinivasa Murthy, known popularly as Srinivasa Murthy, is an Indian actor and television director. He is mostly known for his work as a director having made many television series in Kannada, beginning in 2001, based on the lives of various Kannada philosophers and poets, and adaptations of the works of popular Kannada writers. As an actor, he is known for his work in Kannada cinema, appearing often in supporting roles. He began his career as a stage artiste in both professional and amateur theatre, before taking to films in 1977.
Vishnuvardhana is a 2011 Indian Kannada language action thriller film directed by Pon Kumaran in his directorial debut and produced by Dwarakish. It stars Sudeepa, Bhavana Menon, Priyamani and Sonu Sood. The music was composed by V. Harikrishna.
S. Narayan is an Indian filmmaker, director, actor and lyricist of Kannada films. After Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, Narayan is the second director to direct Dr. Rajkumar and all his three sons. He has given many hits with Vishnuvardhan and also worked with many actors of Sandalwood. He has directed Tamil movie Jai.
Rambo is a 2012 Indian Kannada-language comedy thriller film written and directed by M S Sreenath. It was produced by Atlanta Nagendra and Sharan. Sharan and Madhuri Itagi played the leading roles. This is the 100th film of actor Sharan; it was released in September 2012. Arjun Janya is the music director for the film.
My Autograph is a 2006 Kannada-language romantic drama film which was directed, produced and enacted by Sudeep in his first directorial venture. Along with him, this film starred Meena, Sridevika, Deepu, and Rashmi Kulkarni. This film is a remake of Tamil film Autograph, which was directed by Cheran.
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.
Ee Bandhana is a 2007 Indian Kannada-language drama film written, directed and co-produced by Vijayalakshmi Singh. This marks her debut directorial project. It stars Vishnuvardhan and Jayapradha. While Darshan, Ananth Nag, Tara, Sharmiela Mandre, Tarun Chandra and Jennifer Kotwal form the rest of the ensemble cast. The movie was produced by Jai Jagadish for Dakshath Combines.
Jamindarru is a 2002 Indian Kannada-language action drama film starring Vishnuvardhan in dual roles, Prema and Raasi. The film is directed and written by S. Narayan and produced by K. Manju under Lakshmishree Combines. The film, upon release, met with positive reviews. The music was scored by M. M. Keeravani and Sax Raju.
Taj Mahal is a 2008 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed and written by R. Chandru, starring Ajay Rao and Pooja Gandhi. Produced by T. Shivashankar Reddy, the film is Chandru's directoral debut. The film was released on 25 July 2008, and had a 200-day run in Karanataka. Music director Abhiman Roy was awarded the Best Music Director accolade at the Karnataka State Film Awards for his film score. Taj Mahal was one of the most successful Kannada-language films of 2008. It was remade in Telugu under the same title in 2010.
Vishnu Sena is a 2005 Indian Kannada-language action drama film directed by Naganna and produced by M. Govinda. The film stars Vishnuvardhan along with Ramesh Aravind, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy and Gurleen Chopra in the prominent roles. The film had a musical score and soundtrack composed by Deva. The film is a remake of 2002 Tamil movie Ramanaa.
Neenello Nanalle is 2006 Indian Kannada-language romance film directed by Dinesh Babu, and is a remake of the Telugu film Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana (2005). It stars Vishnuvardhan, Aniruddh and Rakshita in pivotal roles. Anant Nag, Srinivasa Murthy, Ramakrishna and Chitra Shenoy feature in supporting roles. The title of the film comes from a track of the same name of the 1982 Kannada film Chalisuva Modagalu starring Rajkumar. This movie was the 2500th Kannada movie to be released.
Rakshasa (transl. Demon) is a 2005 Indian Kannada-language crime thriller film directed by Sadhu Kokila, written by Ranganath and produced by Ramu. The film features Shiva Rajkumar and Gajala in the lead roles along with Ruthika, Amrutha, Kishore and Rangayana Raghu in other pivotal roles.
Ravi Shastri is a 2006 Indian Kannada-language romantic comedy film directed by M. S. Rajashekar and M. R. Raghavendra. It is a remake of the Tamil film Idhu Namma Aalu (1988) and stars Ravichandran and Sneha, in her Kannada cinema debut.
V. Nagendra Prasad is a lyricist, composer and director who predominantly works for Kannada cinema. He has written more than 3000 songs, largely for Kannada cinema.
