Vishnuvardhan (actor) - Later Years and Death

Later Years and Death

During his last part of life, he developed more interest in spirituality. Many of his friends say that he used to sit at home and read books on spirituality and psychology.

According to his close friends, the sufferings he witnessed in his career which spanned 37 years forced him to take solace in philosophy. He used to exchange thoughts on matters relating to metaphysics with erudite scholar Bannanje Govindacharya, while visiting his house frequently. According to Prof. Bannanje, the actor invited him to several religious functions and at no time did they discuss films. In fact, the actor often expressed his desire to move away from films. Prof. Bannanje said he was like his own brother and the latter treated him as his spiritual guru. Vishnuvardhan had, in fact, collected a full set of CDs of Prof. Bannanje’s discourses. The actor, according to him, had grown spiritually within. It is well known that he had went through difficulties throughout his career.

Vishnuvardhan died on 30 December 2009, due to a massive cardiac arrest at King's Court Hotel in Mysore. He was survived by his wife, Bharathi Vishnuvardhan, and two adopted daughters, Keerthi and Chandana.

Fans came to pay their last tribute at the National College Grounds near Basavangudi where his body was placed for public view. A grand procession arrangement was made to pay tribute to the actor.

As an acknowledgement to his service to Indian cinema, the state government also decided to name its annual lifetime achievement award to long-serving film personalities after Vishnuvardhan, renaming it the "Dr. Vishnuvardhan Lifetime Achievement Award".