Premotsava Vishnu & Rajkumar at a musical nite Starting his acting career in “Vamshavraksha”, Vishnu has stayed in the kannada film industry for more than 25 years and is still going strong. It is a true life time achievement and a milestone for vishnu to stay in the kannada film industry for such a long time bearing in mind that it has such a limited scope of audience. Vishnuvardhan had to prove himself when the time was completely dominated by Dr.Rajkumar. A born fighter, Vishnu accepted the challenge and became the 2nd most popular after Dr.Rajkumar. In 1972,Vishnuvardhan made his debut in Puttanna Kanagal’s movie “Nagarahaavu”. Raw and raring to go, Vishnu made everyone sit-up and notice his persuasive screen presence. He still remembers the day when he attended the interview in a hotel, where his eyes and his dialogue delivery won the Late.S.R.Puttanna Kanagal’s appreciation, beating others in the fray. Holding a king Cobra in his hand, walking along the hills of Chitradurga and singing the verses “Haavina Dwesha Hanerdu Varusha,Nanna Rosha Nooru Varusha !! “, Vishnu won the hearts of kannadigas.He hit the bull’s eye by bagging the best actor award for the state in his first movie. Vishnu in Aradhane When asked about his ambition in life before coming to movies he had said, “I always cherished the dream of working in a field which is full of thrills and adventure.I had also planned to join the army and loved to tour and visit places.” By God’s grace or by Destiny, Vishnu was able to fulfill all his dreams in a single field. He is a very rare combination of versatile actor and extremely nice human being. Not only is he warm, he also conveys that warmth across to the audience. This helps the audience develop empathy towards him. He has expressive eyes, which he can emote very well with. He can express more than words.Roaring as a lion in SahasaSimha to stammering Vijay in Suprabhatha,Vishnu has ascended the thrones of millions of his fans.Anger,laughter,making others laugh,easy delivery of dialogues,performing dangerous stunts are all second nature to Vishnu’s blood.He made acting look easy. SahasaSimha Vishnu has not stuck to any brand of movies, Though action has been considered his forte and also has been titled SahasaSimha, the movies in which he has done justice to acting has brought him fame and laurels.The directors have succeeded in getting variety of roles performed from him. Vishnu has set many records in the kannada film industry.His movies are well known for great stunts.He performs many difficult stunts with ease.He is well known for his common stunt, Lifting his leg above the shoulder of the opponent.He has done this stunt in a couple of movies like SahasaSimha,Aaradhane,samrat etc.His fans still relish the stunt in Inspector Dhanush(Hindi) where he lifts his leg and places it on the top of maruthi van for a couple of minutes.His other stunt movies include Rudranaga,Sathyam Shivam Sundaram, Kalinga,Ondeguri( made in the lines of MadMax),Nishkarsha(based on die hard),veeradhiveera,Jayasimha, Kotigobba and many more. With Sir.M.Vishweshwaraiah award After a series of monotonous action movies, Vishnu has left his mark as an actor and has won the title “ABHINAYA BHARGAVA”. His acting in movies like Nagarahaavu, Hombisilu, Bandhana,Malayamarutha, Suprabhatha,Muttinahara,Rayaru Bandaru Mavana Manege,Halundathavaru,Laali, Suryavamsha, Yejamana and Veerappanayaka are exemplary. Suprabatha bagged 8 awards and set a records of all sorts in 1988 and it was the first kannada movie to bag this many awards. Mutthinahara was made on the lines of Guns of Navaron and Omar Mukthar.True to Vishnu’s words,an actor gets a chance once in his life time to act in these type of movies .While shooting this movie Vishnu performed a dangerous parachute diving without a dupe and missed death by a whisker.He has also proved himself by acting in mythological movies like GuruShishyaru and as “Lord Shiva” in Prachanda Kulla.Madhuve Maadu Tamashe Nodu and the recent hit Hendthigehelthini are samples of his Jovial acting. All these paved the way for bagging the prestigious Sir.M.Vishweshwaraiah award in 1992.It was awarded by the Sir.M.Vishweshwaraiah Indira Pratishtana trust.Every director from Late.Sri.Puttanna Kanagal to S.Narayan describes Vishnu as one of the most reliable star actors in the Kannada Industry. Mojugara Sogasugara Vishnu started to wear the “Kadha” from 1980.He first wore it in the movie Simhajodi and remains with him still.It was given to him in a gurudwara in Bidar.It also turned out to be a lucky charm in his life.His recent movies are well known in trying to bring the awareness of kannada among people.Dialogues in the movie Samrat sends cold shivers through any true Kannadiga.His movies are also well known for meaningful dialogues and proverbs.In his movies, there will be alteast one instance where the womenfolk are praised and the importance of motherhood is highlighted. Even at 53, he can still hold his own against the young actors who are almost 15 – 20 years younger to him and has been the guiding light to many youngsters.

Courtesy: Vishnuvardhan.com