It has been seven years since Sahasasimha Vishnuvardhan passed away. Even after his death, we still see the references of Vishnu Dada in some way or the other. Such is his popularity that he was recreated through graphics recently in “Nagarahavu”. Even though the film released to poor reviews, the name Vishnuvardhan was enough. The film has got extraordinary opening and is still doing good business in weekdays. He is only seen for a ten minute role in the climax. But his fans, which are surely the highest in Karnataka, have made the film a big hit. There are some fans who are buying tickets and are coming to watch only the climax in the theatre!!
Vishnuvardhan is surely an inspiration. He made his debut as lead in the evergreen classic “Nagarahavu”. The film upon release made Vishnuvardhan a star. In his career spanning four decades, he acted in 200 films. He had also acted in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. He was the only actor who could give competition to Dr Rajkumar in the 70’s. Such was Vishnu’s popularity, that Rajkumar fans would tear posters of Vishnu’s films. However, the two superstars never had anything against each other and worked for the betterment of the industry.
Vishnuvardhan had given the most number of hits. He had given such humongous hits, which not many actors can even imagine. Many of his films have run for more than a year in theatre. He was also a family hero. Ladies would queue to watch his film. He balanced mass as well as class films.
A popular national channel had conducted a poll in 2006, to see who was the most popular actor in Sandalwood ever. Vishnuvardhan won the polls hands down, showing his popularity.
Vishnuvardhan is still alive in his fans’ heart. A movie on his name was done by Kiccha Sudeep and we know what was the result. The film showed Sudeep playing his hardcore fan and it became a big hit. Yash played Vishnu fan in “Mr & Mrs Ramachari”, and the film is the industry hit in Sandalwood. And now Shivarajkumar will be playing Vishnu fan in “Srikanta”.
Such is Vishnu’s popularity, that all top heroes are eager to play a Vishnu fan on screen. Speaking about Vishnuvardhan, Rajesh Kamath, a hardcore Vishnu fan says, “Vishnuvardhan is the ultimate superstar. A man with a clean image. He was not only a hero on screen but also off screen. He has helped so many people. His charitable trust is still helping people. He adopted two daughters. This only proves what a good person he is. In a society, where a male child is expected to take over father, Vishnu adopted girls and gave them life.”
“If Vishnuvardhan was alive today, he would have surely reached the craze of Rajinikanth in south India. With peak marketing, his name was enough to create a huge brand. Unfortunately God took away his life,” he adds.
Kamlesh, a member of Vishnu Sena, a fan club of Dr Vishnuvardhan says, “He was everyone’s favourite. He never had any haters. He was loved by all. Unfortunately, he is still suffering. There are so much controversies going on regarding his memorial. It is a pity that successive state governments have not been able to give justice to our superstar yet.”
Speaking about memorial, Harish, a fan says, “Memorial is built only for dead people. Vishnuvardhan is still alive, so there are so many controversies going on. He is the biggest star and will always be.”
Dr Vishnuvardhan may have passed away, but his fans have kept him alive. We have already seen him back on screen in “Nagarahavu”. We hope to see him again in new films.
