Dr. Vishnuvardhan a Stylish actor

A young cute boy Kumar wanted to become a “ Daaku”  with the inspiration he got from watching films. He was promptly sent back from  Rajasthan by his elder sister for studies to Bangalore.
 
He roamed several places and the one liking he picked up was that of visiting to the sets of Kannada films for the sake of eating spicy tasty eatables served.
 

This attraction made him to attend the sets and bunk the classes. He was spotted for a small role in National award winner “ Vamshavruksha “ and later he got an opportunity of his life from the great director S.R.Puttanna Kanagal for the film “ Nagara Havu “ which was a smash hit and raked into lot of popularity for this Kumar.

 

Puttanna Kanagal  named him as Vishnuvardhan for this film and  he served kannada film industry for almost 40 years.

 

He was  one of the most versatile, talented, stylish and popular actors in the Kannada film Industry. Be it a romantic, action, emotional, music, comedy or a family drama movie Vishuvardhan can enact them with effortless ease.

 

Four decades of  career and a variety of popular roles in more than 200  films speak very  high about his caliber as an actor.

 

Some of his all-time hits are Naagara haavu, Bandhana, Naagara Hole, Muthina Haara,Suprabhata , Himapatha, Nishkarsha and  Bhooytayyana Maga Ayyu .

 

His venture into parallel cinema was with a film called “ Harakeya Kuri “ (based on Dr. Chandrashekar Kambar' s novel with same title) directed by Ravi (K.S.L.N Swamy who also directed his Malaya Maruta).

 

It was  believed that the huge fan following of  him didn't want Vishnu Vardhan to deviate from his  "Star Value" and "image". He continued to don the roles of macho hero and the ideal lover husband.

 

After his action film "Sahasa Simha" (the lion of action) directed by Joe-Saiman , Vishnuvardhan never reverted back from his action image  till his last days .

 

So he became a prisoner of his own image in the later stages of his carrier and signed some insignificant films which he would have easily avoided.

 

He is also named as Abhinaya Bhargava by his fans.

 

After Nagarahavu  a silver jubilee film Vishnuvardhan had to wait for a long time for his second hit in Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu directed by Siddalingayya .

 

The films like Hombisilu, Bandhana based on novels, the hit films like Karna, Malayamarutha, Mahakshatriya, Suprabhata, Chanakya, Samraat, Halunda Thavaru possesed strong story line.

 

There is no doubt that Vishnuvardhan has given an above average performance in the field and has contributed significantly for the growth of Kannada cinema.

 

While his maiden film as hero was way back in 1972 fetched him state award, his subsequent emotional performance in Hombisilu (1977),  Bandhana (1984) , Lion Jagapathi Rao (1990) and in the later years brought him acclaim at the state level.

 

In Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu ,he has a tailor made role of Macha and angry young man in a village who always fights for the injustice and takes on the mighty power of  Bhootayayya (played by M.P.Shankar.) the village head.

 

His another chilling performance came in JIMMI GALLU (though a remake) where he played an innocent villager who comes to city and becomes a victim of a conspiracy and gets “ Gallu Shikshe “ for the crime he has not done.His  has also sang his first song in his own voice in this film " Tuttu Anna Tinnoke , Bogase Neeru Kudiyoke" which became very popular.

 

His best performances always came with best directors like S.V.Rajendrasing Babu and Dinesh Baboo. 

His performances in Dinesh Baboo' s films  Suprabhata and  Laali  which can be called as Land marks in his carrier.

 

As a speech impaired person who learn to speak fluently by continuously talking to him self  in  front of a mirror  in Suprabhata he  was fantastic and can be done only by him.

 

His subdued performance as a doctor husband in Hombisilu directed by Geetapriya earned him lot of ladies fans.

 

He has amazing comic timing which was rarely utilized in KFI.

 

His first comic role as a widower in  Makkala-Sainya who has four children , who marries another widow (Actress Sumitra now wife of director D.Rajendra Babu) who has three children’s from her first husband was a hilarious fare with equally competent performace by all the children. This film was directed by actress Laskshmi.

 

His other good performances came in “ Sose thanda Sowbhagya” , “Hosilu mettida Hennu” , “ Indina Ramayana” and “ Mane Mane Kathe ” .

 

His role of a drunkard brother loved by every body in Indina Ramayana was a revelation as well as hilarious.

 

He was equally good in Bhagya-Jyoti ,  Bangarada Gudi .

 

He was at his entertaining best at Kalla-Kulla, Singapuaradalli Raja-Kulla, Kiladi-Jodi, Nee Nakkare Halu Sakkare and Sahasasimha.

 

His another sober performance came in Rayaru-Bandaru-mavana manege  .

 

His performance as a duty bound commando chief with golden heart in Sunilkumar Desai's Nishkarsha was another highlight of that movie.

 

Yet the artist in him has not completely came into force. His impressive performances in certain scenes in Bandhana, Suprabhata, Mutttina Hara really promised a lot. However, sadly, it has just remained a promise.

 

He some where in the middle missed the track completely (Probably misguided by that cunning Kulla of KFI Dwarakish) and resorted to acting in a string of remakes (which constitutes about 70% of his total films) without bothering to search for good stories and script.

 

He has acted in many meaning less stuff like Khaidi , Deva, Jananayaka, Naga-Kala-Bhairava, Kotigobba, Appaji, Kannada Kuvara, Sogasugara, Vishnu-Sainya Rudra naga, Satyam-shivam-sunderam, Simaha-jodi, kalinga, Onde-guri, Veeradhiveera, Jayasimha, Yama-Kinkara and many others.

 

His very bad move in his carrier which has cost him very dearly both in the form of popularity and fan following his foolish attempt to enter Bollywood that too with crap films Vishnu-Dada and Vishnu-Vijay both produced by himself in association of that third rate director Keshu-Ramsey.

 

From the day one in fiefdom, Vishnu has been surrounded by controversies. He was called as angry young man, moody chap, and of late philosophical.

 

This moody nature of his and misguided by some of his associates he had broke-up with talented director like S.V.R Babu and deprived KFI some more astonishing films and performances.

 Though films like Veerappanayaka and Suryavamsha further tapped his potentiality but not fully.

 

Vishnuvardhan caught in the web he has woven around him or the industry, which is more commercial oriented, has failed to exploit the best in him. The absence of valuable criticism and critical writing on cinema and artists, which is a bane in Kannada cinema also seems to have become a negative factor for his growth.

 

Fortunately there were films like  SIRIVANTHA  though a remake has received rave reviews and appreciation from both the press, industry and public and kept him in lime light. 

In 2004  he was  awarded a  Doctorate by Mysore university and he was  the only second actor in KFI who has  is awarded a Doctorate  till then.

Though his next film Sachin  directed “ Ekadanta “ did not done him any good with a miniscule role his other film  Nagathi Halli Chandrashekhar  directed Film “ Maatad Maatad Mallige “ in which he played a former who fights against globalization of villages to perfection received again rave reviews from both press and public and is another feather in his cap.

His another  film “ Ee Bandhana “ though a remake received well by audience and show cased his talent once again in matured roles.

After this he had a lean patch with films like Nammejamanru,  Bellary Naga etc failing badly at box office.

His health was always a matter of concern for him after the age of 50. He was suffering from severe diabetes and heart ailment. He had undergone a major operation to remove water from his body because of which he gained weight.

But finally Vishnuvardhan  died on 30 December 2009, due to a massive cardiac arrest at King's Court Hotel in Mysore. He was survived by his wife, Bharathi  Vishnuvardhan, and two adopted daughters, Keerthi and Chandana.

Fans came to pay their last tribute at the National College Grounds near Basavangudi where his body was placed for public view. A grand procession arrangement was made to pay tribute to the actor.

During his last part of life, he developed more interest in spirituality. Many of his friends say that he used to sit at home and read books on spirituality and psychology. His close associate   Dr. Rajkumar’s  death  also affected him both mentally and physically.

His last films were “ Master “ and Apta rakshaka “ both released after his death.

While “ Master “ failed badly , Its  “ Aptarakshaka “ which was second part of his earlier hit “ Apta mitra “ was a resounding success and  paid a rich  tribute to this talented actor.

He has acted in over 220 movies in total that includes 200 Kannada movies, 5 Hindi movies, 5 Telugu movies, 3 Malayalam movies and 6 Tamil movies.

Today is his birthday is and this article is a tribute to this talented actor who had entertained us for nearly 30 years. May his soul rest in peace.