Vishnuvardhan
Acting
Sampath Kumar (18 September 1950 – 30 December 2009), known by his stage name Vishnuvardhan, was an Indian actor who worked predominantly in Kannada cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam language films. Vishnuvardhan has a prolific career spanning over four decades, during which he has acted in more than 220 films. A popular cultural icon of Karnataka, and holds the status of a matinée idol among the Kannada diaspora. He is popularly called as Sahasa Simha, Dada and The Angry Young Man of Kannada Cinema. Vishnuvardhan's contributions to Kannada cinema have been praised by his contemporaries in the Indian film industry. The Government of Karnataka honoured him with the highest civilian awards of Karnataka State, the Karnataka Ratna Award in 2025, Rajyothsava Prashasthi in 1990 and the Dr. Rajkumar Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 for his contributions to Kannada cinema. He was called The Phoenix of Indian Cinema. In 2008, a poll conducted by CNN-IBN listed Vishnuvardhan as the most popular star in the Kannada film industry.
Known for
Acting151
movieNagarahavu
2016
King Nagaraja (created with CGI)
movieAptharakshaka
2010
Dr. Vijay
movieEe Bandhana
2007
Harish Raj
movieSahukara
2004
Sahukara Raja Mahendra Varma
movieMalla
2004
Self - Narrator (voice)
movieKadamba
2004
Madhukeshawara Kadamba
movieSimhadriya Simha
2002
Narasimha Gowda and Chikka
movieKotigobba
2001
Nanjunda
movieDiggajaru
2001
Wodeya
movieYajamana
2000
Shankar/Ganesha (Dual Role)
movieSoorappa
2000
Soorappa
movieSuryavamsha
1999
Sathyamurthy/Kanakamurthy (Dual Role)
movieHabba
1999
Vishnu
movieNishyabdha
1998
Major Vishwanath
movieZaalim
1994
Inspector Mohan
movieAshaant
1993
Vishnu
movieNishkarsha
1993
Ajay Kumar
movieKauravar
1992
Haridas I.P.S.
movieShivashankar
1990
Shivu / Shankar
movieDaada
1988
Daada
movieSuprabhatha
1988
Vijay Kumar
movieSowbhagya Lakshmi
1987
Shyam / Chandru
movieSri Raghavendrar
1985
Sri Yogenthra Tirtha
movieAaradhane
1984
Rajesh
moviePolice Papanna
1984
Guest Appearance
movieBenki Birugali
1984
Vishnu
movieBandhana
1984
Dr. Harish
movieSahasa Simha
1982
Prathap
movieKalinga
1980
Prabhakar/ Ranga
movieAmarnath
1978
Guest Appearance
movieVasantha Lakshmi
1978
Chandru
movieKiladi Jodi
1978
George
movieMuyyige Muyyi
1978
Sanjay
movieHombisilu
1978
Dr. Nataraj
movieKittu Puttu
1977
Kittu
movieKalla Kulla
1975
Mahesh aka Kalla
movieAlaigal
1973
Inspector Raju
movieNaagarahaavu
1972
Ramachari
Vamsha Vriksha
1971
credited as "Kumar"
movieMarudhanayagam
Wajid Khan
Writing1
movieLion Jagapathi Rao
1991
Screenplay