When Dr Vishnuvardhan's remuneration fell into Katari Veera Upendra's pocket!
News
oi-Prakash
By Ramchander
Cashing
in
on
the
popularity
of
iconic
celebrities
is
not
a
new
trend
in
Sandalwood.
Legendary
actor
Dr
Rajkumar
and
multifaceted
Shankar
Nag
have
been
the
favourite
choices
of
our
filmmakers-actors
who
incorporate
the
stars
in
various
forms
in
their
films.
Now,
the
industry
seems
to
have
found
another
face!
Well,
it
is
none
other
than
late
actor
Dr
Vishnuvardhan.
Last
year,
Kicha
Sudeep's
movie
Only
Vishnuvardhana
started
the
trend,
which
created
a
big
controversy.
Bharathi
Vishuvardhan,
the
wife
of
the
actor,
had
opposed
it
by
claiming
that
producer
Dwarakeesh,
who
was
one-time
close
friend
of
the
Sahasa
Simha,
should
not
use
her
husband's
name
in
the
title.
However,
later
it
was
resolved
with
the
intervention
of
the
industry
dignitaries.
Now,
Munirathna
seems
to
have
tried
to
connect
a
link
with
Dr
Vishnuvardhan's
name
with
his
mega-budget
movie
Katari
Veera
Surasundarangi.
The
producer
has
said
that
the
Aapthamitra
star
was
supposed
to
work
in
one
of
his
films,
but
the
Rakta
Kaneeru
maker
was
not
destined
to
work
with
him,
as
the
actor
died
before
the
project
took
off.
He
claims,
“Vishnuvardhan
sir
had
called
me
one
fine
day
and
agreed
to
act
in
my
film.
I
gave
my
chequebook
to
him
and
asked
to
write
the
amount.
He
signed
two
cheques
of
Rs
6
lakh
each.
But
unfortunately
he
died
without
working
in
my
film.
His
wife
Bharathi
ma,
settled
the
amount
within
the
days
after
his
death
and
told
me
that
Vishnu
asked
her
to
clear
my
amount
after
the
actor
injured
during
the
shooting
of
Aaptharakshaka.”
Munirathna
concludes,
“I
was
not
happy
to
collect
the
money
nor
I
was
expecting
it
at
that
point
of
time.
Having
received
it,
I
directly
went
to
Upendra's
residence
and
paid
the
same
amount
to
him
to
act
in
my
film.
I,
somewhere,
feel
that
Dr
Vishnuvardhan
is
with
us
and
has
blessed
us
to
make
Katari
Veera
Surasundarangi.
I
am
damn
sure
that
the
film
will
impress
the
audience
for
its
unique
attempt.”