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.
Lakshmi Gopalaswamy is an Indian actress from Karnataka and a classical dancer, qualified in Bharatanatyam. She has mainly acted in Malayalam films, while also appearing in few Kannada and Tamil films.
Prince is a 2011 Indian Kannada-language action film starring Darshan, Nikita Thukral, and Jennifer Kotwal in the lead roles. The film has been directed and written by Om Prakash Rao and produced by Sandesh Nagaraj under Sandesh Combines. The music was composed by V. Harikrishna. The movie is a remake of the 2006 Telugu film Shock.
Kutumba is a 2003 Kannada-language action film starring Upendra and Natanya Singh. The film was directed by Naganna and produced by Shailendra Babu. Music for the film was scored by Gurukiran. It is the first among a series of successful films under Upendra — Naganna combination. The film also starred Ashok, Gurukiran, Advani Lakshmi Devi, Shwetha in supporting roles and B.C. Patil and Sathya Raj played the negative roles. The film is a remake of the 1991 Telugu film Gang Leader starring Chiranjeevi. The success of the film led to the release of two other successful films under Upendra — Naganna combination, namely Gokarna in 2003 and Gowramma in 2005.
Simhadriya Simha is a 2002 Indian Kannada-language action drama film directed by S. Narayan. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Meena and Bhanupriya. The music of the film was composed by Deva. The film was a remake of the 1994 Tamil film Nattamai. Vishnuvardhan played triple role in this movie.
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.
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.
Ekadantha is a 2007 Indian Kannada-language comedy drama film directed and written by Bollywood actor - director Sachin starring Vishnuvardhan, Ramesh Aravind and Prema. It features soundtrack from Gurukiran. Released on 16 March 2007, the film met with average and critical response at the box-office.
Kadamba is a 2004 Indian Kannada-language action drama film starring Vishnuvardhan, Bhanupriya and Naveen Krishna. The film is directed and written by director Suresh Krissna, making his debut in Kannada cinema and features soundtrack by Deva. The film is inspired by the 1974 Tamil movie Thanga Pathakkam.
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.
Namyajamanru is a 2009 Indian Kannada-language drama film directed and written by T. S. Nagabharana. The film stars Vishnuvardhan along with Navya Nair and Vijay Raghavendra. The film was produced by Rajakumari Rajshekar.
Sahukara is a 2004 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Om Prakash Rao and produced by K. Manju. It stars V. Ravichandran, Rambha, Shashikumar and Anu Prabhakar. Veteran actor Vishnuvardhan made a extended cameo appearance. It was a remake of the Tamil film Muthu (1995), itself based on the Malayalam film Thenmavin Kombath (1994).
Soorappa is a 2000 Indian Kannada-language action drama film directed by Naganna and produced by Super Hit Films. The film stars Vishnuvardhan in his 175th film along with Charan Raj, Shruti and Anu Prabhakar in prominent roles. The film had a musical score and soundtrack composed and written by Hamsalekha. The film is a remake of the Tamil film Maru Malarchi (1998), directed by Bharathi, which starred Mammootty and Devayani. The film was released to generally positive reviews from critics and was one of the biggest hits of the year 2000. Producer M. B. Babu was renamed Soorappa Babu after the success of this film.
Yaare Neenu Cheluve is a 1998 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by D. Rajendra Babu and produced by Rockline Venkatesh. The film stars Ravichandran, Sangita and Heera Rajagopal. Popular actors such as Vishnuvardhan, Ramesh Aravind, Jaggesh and Prakash Raj are seen in special appearances in the film.
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 an extended cameo role.
Nan Hendthi Chennagidale is a 2000 Indian Kannada-language comedy film directed by Dinesh Babu and starring Kashi, Anjani Takkar and Ananth Nag, along with Vishnuvardhan and Ramesh Aravind in special appearances.
Ganeshana Galate is a 1995 Kannada film directed by Phani Ramachandra. J. M. Prahlad wrote the story, which uses Phani Ramachandra's favourite screen-title Ganesha. Shashikumar replaced Ananth Nag in the titular character. The film also stars Sithara while Ramesh Bhat plays a supporting role.
Pandavaru is a 2006 Indian Kannada-language film directed by K. V. Raju. The film is a remake of Malayalam film Godfather (1991). The film is about five brothers played by Ambareesh, Devaraj, Jaggesh, Ramkumar and Abhijith. The film was released on 10 November 2006 alongside Hubballi.
Saradara is a 2004 Indian Kannada-language action drama film directed by P. N. Sathya starring Darshan, Gurleen Chopra and Srinivasa Murthy. The film was released on 3 December 2004, and was a box office failure.
