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.
Aishwarya is a 2006 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by Indrajit Lankesh, starring Upendra, with Deepika Padukone and Daisy Bopanna. The film is an official remake of Manmadhudu (2002) with the flashback portion inspired by Ghajini (2005). The film featured Upendra as a rich advertisement executive and changed his mass image into a classy one.
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.
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 comedy 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.
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.
Chandra Chakori is a 2003 Indian Kannada-language romance drama film directed by S. Narayan and produced by H. D. Kumaraswamy and Anitha Kumaraswamy under Chennambika Films. The film stars debutants Sriimurali, Priya, Naaz Srinagara Kitty in the lead roles, while Sundar Raj, Doddanna and Ashok appear in supporting roles.
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.
Kurigalu Saar Kurigalu is a 2001 Indian Kannada-language comedy film directed and written by Rajendra Singh Babu. The film stars Ramesh Aravind, S. Narayan, Mohan, Bhavana, Ruchita Prasad and Ananth Nag in the lead roles. This is the first film in the Saar series directed by Babu and was released on 23 March 2001 and received generally positive reviews from the critics and turned out to be box-office hit.
Rishi is a 2005 Indian Kannada-language romance film directed and written by Prakash. The film stars Shiva Rajkumar, Vijay Raghavendra, Radhika and Sindhu Tolani in the lead roles along with Srinath and Avinash in other prominent roles.The score and soundtrack was by Gurukiran whose compositions were appreciated by critics and masses. The film ran for a hundred days and eventually went on to become one of the hits of the year 2005. The film was remade in Telugu as Bangaru Babu (2009) with Jagapathi Babu.
Thavarina Thottilu is a 1996 Indian Kannada-language drama film directed by S. Narayan and written by Ajay Kumar. The film cast includes Ramkumar, Charan Raj and Shruti. The film was produced by Narayan's home production while the original score and soundtrack were composed by Rajesh Ramanath. The film was remade in Tamil as Annan Thangachi directed by actor Charanraj who reprised his role along with Shruti.
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 an Kannada remake of 2002 Tamil movie Ramanaa.
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.
Kshana Kshana is a 2007 Indian Kannada language crime thriller film directed by Sunil Kumar Desai and produced by B. S. Thirumalai. The film stars Aditya, Prema, Kiran Rathod and Ashutosh Rana in the lead roles with actor Vishnuvardhan appearing in a special role.
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.
V. Nagendra Prasad is a lyricist, composer and director who predominantly works for Kannada cinema. He has penned more than 3000 songs, particularly for Kannada cinema.
Hemanth Subramanya known by his stage name as Hemanth, is a playback singer in Kannada cinema.
Rajapur Gopalarao Vijayasarathy was an Indian actor, journalist and film critic who was known for being the only writer of Kannada film reviews for Indo-Asian News Service and Rediff.com during the 2000s. He started his work in the 1970s writing for sports and business columns before transitioning into a film critic. Reportedly, he was "A familiar face in Kannada films and television, he would be mobbed by fans when spotted at theatres to watch new releases".
