Veteran Kannada film actor Vishnuvardhan passed away in the early hours of 30th December 2009 upon sustaining a massive heart attack. Vishnuvardhan, originally called Sampath Kumar was an extremely talented theater artist who caught the eye of maverick theater and movie director Puttana Kanagal, who set about grooming the youngster for the silver screen. It was Puttana Kanagal who gave young Sampath Kumar the screen name ‘Vishnuvardhan’, the name by which countless fans would know him by. Vishnuvardhan made his silver screen debut in award winning Vamshavruksha, but it was his starring role as an angry, egoistic and highly opinionated young man in Puttana Kanagal’s ‘Nagarahaavu’ (Cobra snake) that won him rave reviews and kudos from just about anybody who was a somebody in the Kannada movie industry. The movie went on to become a smash hit and won Vishnuvardhan the first of his many screen awards and acclaim.

Vishnuvardhan went on to change the very look of Kannada movies with his dashing image and presence with his next three movies. Since the only major stars at that time were Ambarish and Rajkumar, comparisons could not be avoided. It was not long before the audience craved to see Vishnuvardhan alongside Dr. Rajkumar, who by then had over 150 films to his credit! This unique duo got to work with each other in Gandhada Gudi, Dr. Rajkumar’s 152nd movie and Vishnuvardhan’s 5th movie! Unfortunately, disaster struck. In what is an extremely controversial incident which remains unexplained to this day, in a scene in the movie where Vishnuvardhan shoots at Rajkumar, the blank bullet had been substituted with a real, live bullet. Rajkumar was fortunate as bullet missed him by a whisker and thudded into some props placed behind him. This incident caused a huge furore with fans of Dr Rajkumar claiming that Vishnuvardhan had plotted to kill Rajkumar while Vishnuvardhan fans claimed it was an act of sabotage which was aimed at maligning Vishnuvardhan. Though the cause could never be properly ascertained, Rajkumar never allowed Vishnuvardhan to act alongside him ever again.

Vishnuvardhan however went on in his inimitable style, notching up hit after hit. Most of his roles were of adventurous young men, many of which included portrayals of police and army officers. He formed an alliance with Dwarakeesh, a notable comedian who went on to become a director. The Dwarakeesh/Vishnu combo movies became extremely popular and they went on to share screen space in as many as twelve movies.

Even after growing too old to portray the typical hero, he kept getting a steady flow of scripts custom-written to suit him and went on to star in many movies as the stern but fair patriarch. Many of the roles played by Vishnuvardhan have been portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan, in the Hindi remakes of the movies. Vishnuvardhan led a spotlessly clean life, both on and off the screen, unlike many of his peers, including the famous Dr. Rajkumar who had two wives and a son out of wedlock. Vishnuvardhan was deeply religious and made several trips to Shabarimala (Lord Ayyappa’s temple). He was also deeply philanthropic. He converted his palatial house into an old-age home which he took keen personal interest in and moved to a smaller accommodation himself. He married actress Bharathi and went on to adopt two daughters, all of whom survive Vishnuvardhan. Vishnuvardhan will be sorely missed and cherished for a long time to come. May his soul rest in peace.