Kannada actor Sudeep, who is fondly known as Kichcha Sudeep, has urged the Karnataka government to build the memorial of late legendary actor Dr Vishnuvardhan, citing the latter's immense contribution to Sandalwood industry.
On 27 October, Sudeep, who is currently working on some Kannada, Telugu and Tamil projects, took to his Twitter page to talk about Dr Vishnuvardhan's memorial. The actor tweeted, "Vishnu sir's contribution towards our language and industry is huge... I shall surely stand up for the memorial tat he rightfully deserves..."
Sudeep requested the government to clear all the legal hurdles that have been obstructing the memorial. He wrote, "We do understand tat govt has its issues... But this isn't Smthn tat Dsnt hv a solution... This is fr a legend's memorial,,,respect plss." (sic)
Sudeep added, "We aint askin th law to b broken.. Reqst th concrnd to kindly draw a solution asap..ths is th least tat can b done to our pride 'vishnu'sir It's not money tats required here... It's an intention.. An intention to respect a man who's been an icon to crores of ppl across th country." (sic)
Vishnuvardhan died of a massive cardiac arrest at King's Court Hotel in Mysore on 30 December, 2009. Soon after his death, the Karnataka government announced a memorial for the actor at Abhimaan Studios, in the outskirts of Bengaluru, where his body was cremated.
The government even set up a private trust called Dr Vishnuvardhan Prathishtana to build a memorial similar to the one built for Dr. Rajkumar in Kanteerava Studios. But its plans landed in legal tangle after the daughter of late cinestar Balakrishna, who owned the land objected it.
Later, the government allotted two acres of land in Mylasandra village near Kengeri, Bangalore. Since this land is heavily forested and has 1,500 varied saplings and 500 trees, the government is now in a tussle with environmentalists.
