Vishnu shrine to come up at Abhiman Studio

The structure will consist a life-size statue of the late actor and ambience will be created such that his fans and friends can feel his ‘presence’ there.

The structure will be part of the memorial coming up at Abhiman Studio. Chief Minister Yeddyurappa has announced Rs 10 crore for the memorial. Producer of Vishnuvardhan’s last movie Aptarakshaka Krishna Prajwal has announced to bear the expenditure towards installing the statue.

Vishnuvardhan’s wife and actress Bharati said the project was still at the planning stage. The government had promised two acres for the memorial. Once the land is allotted the project would be taken up. “We are not constructing a mere memorial. It will be a temple for the actor. We are yet to work out the design”, she said.

Aptarakshaka, released after the actor’s demise, has been successful in the box office. The success it achieved has been unheard of in the Kannada filmdom in the recent days. However, producer Prajwal makes it clear he did not make the commitment to install the statue because his movie, in which Vishnu played the lead role, had been making profit. “I had announced the installation the statue even before the release of my movie. I have discussed the the design of the statue with the actor’s family members”, he said.

The producer said that Bharati’s wish was to instal a life-size statue. He had already begun searching for sculptors. The first actor to have a temple in South India is Khushboo. Her fans constructed the temple in Tamil Nadu. However, statues of many actors including Raj Kumar have come up in various places of South India.