Friday, January 8, 2010

Rajnikanth bids farewell to Vishnuvardhan


The sudden demise of Dr Vishnuvardhan has left many fans and those close to the Kannada actor shattered.

One such person is Tamil super star Rajnikanth [ Images ] who could visit the late actor's house only after his return from a long shooting schedule in Pune-Lonavla.

Rajnikanth's friends Mohan Babu, Sharath Kumar and wife Radhika, and Vijayakanth [ Images ] have already visited Dr Vishnu's [ Images ] house to console Bharathi and other family members.

Rajnikanth finally paid a visit to Dr Vishnu's house on Wednesday evening after coming straight from Mysore. Rajni was accompanied by his close friend Ambareesh, Kannada film producer Rockline Venkatesh and many others.

Rajni came to Vishnu's house around 6.30 in the evening and spent more than an hour with the family. He offered floral tributes to the star with whom he has acted in two Kannada and two Tamil films.

Rajni recalled how Vishnu's performance in Puttanna-directed Nagarahaavu impressed him. "I saw the film many times and my resolve to become an actor strengthened after I saw that film," he recalled.

He also remembered a meeting he had with Vishnu two months ago at a party arranged by Lizy Priyadharshan and Radhika Sharath Kumar where many artists of the seventies got an opportunity to interact with each other. "He was a tall man spiritually and had abundant knowledge about many things. He was an inspiration to many artists," said Rajnikanth.

When Rajnikanth started acting in films, Vishnu was already a big star. He acted with Vishnu in two films -- Sahodarara Savaal and Galaate Samsaara. Both were big hits. Later Vishnu acted with Rajnikanth in the super star's hundredth film Raghavendra. The other film they did together was Vidudalai.

Image: Rajnikanth and Bharathi

R G Vijayasarathy in Bangalore

Friday, January 1, 2010

Top Kannada Actresses of 2009


The year belonged to Kannada actress Aindrita because all her films did reasonably well at the box office.

Radhika Pandit was not so lucky but still she managed to make a big impact with her performances. The beautiful Raagini was lucky with her first film and she charmed fans with her glamorous looks.

But the year did not go as well for Pooja Gandhi and Ramya, the latter making news for all the wrong reasons.

We look at the Kannada actresses who impressed us this year.

Aindrita Ray
Films: Junglee, Manasaare and Vaayuputhra

Aindrita had two huge hits in Junglee and Manasaare and a semi hit in Vaayuputhra. With each film, she seems to be growing into a mature actress, her glamorous image intact.

Though she was brilliant in Yogaraj Bhat's Manasaare, she was not allowed to dub in her own voice. The actress has now promised to do her dubbing in all her future films from now on.


Image: A scene from Manasaare