Sampath Kumar son of H.L. Narayana Rao and Kamakshamma is born on 1950 in Mysore.When he was going to college,director Puttanna Kanagal saw him in National College Bangalore and invited him to attend the screen test for his new movie.No wonder he got selected and Puttanna renamed him as Vishnuvardhana.
The name of the movie was Nagarahaavu(Cobra)which told the story of Ramachari,a rebel Brahmin boy.When the movie released it went for a huge hit and a star was born.Vishnu's hairstyle in the movie became a craze among the youths of 70's.After that he rocked the industry with numerous hits and great performances.Though his debut movie is Vamshavriksha,he came to limelight with Nagarahaavu movie.
Vishnu married actress Bharathi,who is elder and a bigger star than him at the moment.Things were going well until he acted in a movie called Gandhadagudi with Dr.Rajkumar.Misinterpretation of statements by the media created lot of controversies which led Vishnu to lot of harassments.His family was threatened and when his father died,the funeral procession was interepted by pelting the stones.Inspite of all these he emerged as a winner in life.Vishnu started to wear the "Kadha" in his left hand from 1980.He first wore it in the movie Simhajodi which remained with him till his death.
One of his most memorable movies is Muthina Haara in which enacted Major Achappa's role.It showed the horrors of the war.It is considered as a cult classic in Kannada filmdom.While shooting for the movie, Vishnu performed a dangerous parachute dive without a double and missed death by a whisker.And his movie Bandhana,made him popular with women audience and went on to be a huge blockbuster.It still remains one of the all time hits in Kannada film industry.In the movie Laali,he played the role of single parent.Suprabhata is also another memorable movie.Some of his memorable movies are Nagara Haavu, Muthina Haara, Hombisilu, Sahasa Simha, Bandhana, Naagara Hole, Nishkarsha, Yajamana, Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu and Apthamitra.Though he had an action hero image in the beginning of his career,he later turned towards love stories and family dramas.He also acted in few Bollywood movies and also in an episode of TV serial 'Malgudi Days' Episode 18 -'Forty-Five a Month', directed by Shankar Nag.His paired opposite Suhasini in many movies and the pair considered as one of the best in Kannada films.
Besides this he was also a singer and rendered his voice for some of his movies.He also sang for devotional albums.Some of his albums are 'Jyothiroopa Ayappa', 'Thayi Bhanashankari' and 'Vishwapremi Ayappa'.His song Thuthu Anna Thinnoke from the movie Jimmi Gallu, and Kannadave Nammamma from Mojugara Sogusugara are very popular.
He was honoured with many awards for his performance in movies. His awards include 6 south Indian Filmfare, 7 State Awards for his acting, a Filmfare for lifetime achievement and Dr. Rajkumar Award 2009. He had got Honorary Doctorate from Bangalore University.He was also nominated for National Award in the Best Actor category twice.One for Muthina Haara and another for Veerappa Nayaka.After all these so called awards are biased(remeber Saif Ali Khan got this award for Hum Tum).I think he really desrved it in Muthina Haara movie itself.His fans call him as Sahasasimha.True to the name he remained as a Lion forever.
During his last part of life, he was growing more interested in spirituality.He was a disciple of Bannanje Govindacharya,a spiritual leader.And he was also a follower of Shirdi Sai Baba and used to wear white cloth on his head.
As per his teachers he was the most handsome boy in the college and what the young Sampath wished for was to be recognised by girls as he walked around Gandhi Bazaar.He was a left-hander and polygot.He could speak almost 6 languages.He was also a great cricket follower and a good player himself.He had his own cricket team called ‘Sneha Loka,’ which consisted of his personal friends.
His untimely death in Vikram Hospital Mysore on 29th December 2009 due to heart attack at the age of 59 is shocking.
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