BANGALORE: Tamil movie icon Rajnikanth visited the house of late Kannada film superstar Vishnuvardhan, who died recently following a heart attack, to console his family members.
Rajnikanth spent close to an hour at Vishnuvardhan's house Wednesday night. He was accompanied by his close friend, actor and former parliamentarian Ambareesh, well-known Kannada film producers Rockline Venkatesh and K. Manju. He told the family about some of the moments he shared with the late actor.
Later, talking to reporters outside the residence, Rajnikanth described Vishnuvardhan as the most sincere actor and a great human being. "He was a role model and had abundant knowledge about spiritual things. He was always helpful. I was in fact encouraged by Vishnu in my younger days.
"My resolve to become an actor was strengthened after I saw Vishnu's film Nagarahavu
directed by Puttanna Kanagal. I cherish memories of meeting him many a times and sharing our insights about spirituality," said Rajnikanth.
Recently, both Vishnuvardhan and Rajnikanth attended a meeting of artistes who had worked in South Indian films during the seventies, organised by Malayalam actress Lizy Priyadarshan, wife of well-known film director Priyadarshan and popular Tamil film and television actress Radhika Sarathkumar. Other artistes, including Karthick, Revathy, Suhasini Manirathnam, Shobhana and Suman, also participated in the meet.
Rajnikanth had acted with Vishnuvardhan in two Kannada films when the late actor was already a big star. The two films -- "Sahodarara Sawal" and "Galate Samsara" -- were hugely successful.
Vishnuvardhan had worked with Rajnikanth in Tamil films like "Vidudalai" (a remake of Feroze Khan's Bollywood hit "Qurbaani") which was shot in London and "Sri Raghavendra" (Rajnikanth's 100th film).
Vishnuvardhan died Dec 30, ending an era in the Kannada film industry.