Namma Kannada Nadu

For over three decades Vajramuni , a winner of the lifetime achievement award (2004) instituted by the State Government has been a "feared" and respected household name mainly for skillfully portraying negative roles in Kannada language films. He has acted in more than 340 Kannada movies. He made his debut in "Mallmamma Pavada" which was directed by renowned Putana Kanagal, and thereafter continued acting in movies until he faced serious health problems.
When Shankar Nag-starrer Vajramushti was released the prime attraction of the film was that all villains of Kannada film industry had been cast in the film. But it was Kannada's unparalleled villain Vajramuni who made his entry amidst a thunderous applause and whistles galore. People jumped on to their seats, tossed coins at the screen and danced ecstatically. Despite Shankar Nag being in the lead role, it was Vajramuni who made his audiences overjoyed. Blood-shot eyes, twitching right eye, eyebrows forever ready to shoot up,a rugged, resonating voice that spoke chaste Kannada were the hallmarks of this Kannada screen's star villain. Vajramuni's contemporaries tried their hands at other supporting roles, but Vajramuni stuck to be a villain till the very end. And during his illustrious career that spanned nearly two-and-a-half decades, he spared no big star. Vajramuni clobbered all of them, including the hero who ruled the industry.

How can a true-blue Kannadiga forget the robust, forceful delivery of: "Atala sutala paataladalladagiddaroo sari, Mayura ninnanu hidide teeruttene" in chaste Kannada? Neither can one forget the blindman he played so poignantly in Bharjari Bete, nor the feudal gowda in Bettale Seve.

Background

Vajramuni was yet another contribution of Kannada professional theatre to the film industry. Like most other actors of his time, he too came from theatre background. Till the '70s, Vajramuni had been active in theatre, playing lead roles in most mythologicals. He probably owes his fine diction, clarity of speech and voice culture to this early training. In the early '60s, Vajramuni had played the lead in Kanagal Prabhakar Shastri's Prachanda Ravana, and it was this performance that propelled him to popularity. Till date, it continues to be one of the most sought-after mythological plays. And for most actors, playing the role of Ravana was one of their life's most cherished dreams. Many have played Ravana's role, but none has matched Vajramuni's histrionics.

Interestingly, it was Ravana's role that brought him into the Kannada film industry. Puttanna Kanagal, who was watching the play, was floored by Vajramuni's performance and cast him in Mallammana Pavada. Producers insisted that Udaya Kumar would be a better choice to match to Shivaji Ganeshan who played the role in the Tamil version, but Puttanna insisted that it had to be Vajramuni. He finally had his way. Of course, Vajramuni didn't fail Puttanna's expectations and he eventually went on to become the unequalled bad man of Kannada film industry is now history. So much so that villainy and Vajramuni became synonymous. In fact, he did a number of films such as Mayura, Sampathige Saval, Daari Tappida Maga, Premada Kanike, Giri Kanye, Shankar Guru and Akasmika with Kannada's megastar Dr. Rajkumar. Needless to say Vajramuni never paled in comparison. Remember the delightful Sudhakara-Ramanna pair of Sipayi Raamu.

Vajramuni didn't limit himself to just acting. He, surprisingly, tried his hands at politics, film production, and even real estate business! In fact, he was so adventurous that he contested from the Congress party as the Basavanagudi candidate and lost. His popularity, sadly, didn't get translated into votes. Also, unfortunately for him, his anti-hero image didn't work too well for his political career. Many women believed that he was a villain and a rapist even in real life. Vajramuni, in one of the interviews, even said how women refused to open the door when he went on a door-to-door election campaign. Some women had even clenched their fists, taken the name of a character he had played in a film, and cursed him! He also sadly admitted how, when his kids were young, they would be scared to come to him.

During this time he also produced five Kannada films. He stopped acting in films when he developed multiple complication and was on dialysis. On January 5, 2005 following kidney failure he passed in Bangalore, leaving behind a wife and three sons.
As President of Jayanagar cooperative bank he has been instrumental in providing sites for more than 100 artistes and technicians in Padmanabhanagara in Bangalore.

Sadly, the man who was the king of Kannada industry for such a long time went into oblivion with his illness. In this passage of time, many villains came, his contemporaries passed away, heroes became villains, but none could take Vajramuni's place.