Mysore, Feb. 8-(HT&SH)- Memories of Kannada filmland's icon, Dr. Vishnuvardhan, came wafting in waves through choicest melodies sung by his admirers before thousands of spectators in the musical homage programme — Madhuravee Manjula Gaana — at the Open Air Theatre in Manasagangotri last evening.
The singers rendered select lyrics from the movies featuring the thespian, admired by all Kannadigas and who breathed his last in Mysore, also his birth place, on December 30, 2009 following cardiac arrest.
They also danced with unalloyed delight matching the love and respect that the actor had earned during his filmlife spread over nearly four decades.
Many leading personalities of Kannada filmworld were among the large, appreciative audience.
The event, organised under the joint auspices of Doordarshan, Prasar Bharathi, Akashvani- Mysore and Pramathi Hillview Academy, was made memorable by local amateur artistes including Dr. M.S. Natashekar, endowed with the quality of renowned playback singer Mukesh's voice, H.K. Raghu, R. Krishnamurthy, Srimad Bharadwaj, R. Prahlad, Jayanthi V. Bhat, Dr. Snehashri and Preethi Prabhu. The dancers on stage included Bharatanatya exponents Sridhar Jain, Kripa Phadke, B. Nagaratna, Karthik and their troupes.
They chose numbers from many movies featuring Vishnuvardhan. The nearly three-hour absorbing programme concluded with many speakers paying homage to the actor recollecting their long association with him, leaving the audience recalling the movies they had viewed and enjoyed over the years.
The lyric "Sharade Dayat-horide" from the movie Malaya Maarutha rendered by H.K. Raghu followed by rendering of "Tuttu Anna Tinnoke, Bogase Neeru Kudiyoke" from the movie Jimmi Gallu by R. Krishnamurthy further deepened the nostalgia about Vishnu's film-acting. The audience listened with rapt attention as Dr. Natashekar sang the lyric "Maamara Vello Kogileyallo, Enee Sneha Sambandha" from the movie Devara Gudi.
Their delight reached peak point even as Dr. Mahesh Joshi, Director, Doordarshan, declaring that as a close admirer of Vishnu he would render a song in dedication to him and rendered the lyric "Baare Baare Chandada Cheluvina Thaare" from the movie Nagarahaavu. He bemoaned that he could not fulfil his dream of singing that number in the presence of Vishnu, unable to control his feelings.
Among the audience were MLAs S.A. Ramdas, H.S. Shankaralingegowda and M. Satyanarayana, Karnataka Housing Board Chairman G.T. Devegowda, Andolana editor Rajashekara Koti, film director and producer Rajendra Singh Babu, film actor-producer Dwarakish, actress Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, film director Joe Simon, Veteran actor Chetan Rama Rao, Ravikumar, Pramathi Hillview School Secretary H.V. Rajiv and Akashvani Station Director Dr. M.S. Vijaya.
S. Narayanaswamy and Sowmyashri compered the programme.
Courtesy : Star Of Mysore