Dr. Rajkumar

This page relates to the Kannada actor, Rajkumar; for other uses of the name see Raj Kumar.

Padmabhushan Rajkumar ‌ ಡಾ. ರಾಜಕುಮಾರ್
File:Rajkumar Kannada.jpg Rajkumar
Born	Singanalluru Puttaswamayya Muthuraju
Occupation(s)	Actor, Singer
Years active	1954 - 2000
Spouse	Parvatamma Rajkumar

Rajkumar (Kannada: ಡಾ. ರಾಜಕುಮಾರ್), (born Singanalluru Puttaswamayya Muthuraju, April 24, 1929 - April 12, 2006) was an actor and singer in Kannada film industry. He acted in more than 200 Kannada movies. He mainly worked in Karnataka and has won awards for his work.

He was called "Dr. Raj" and "Natasarvabhouma" (meaning emperor of acting) and was popular in both Karnataka and other Indian states. His primary view about his fans was "I don't know whether I will ever see God. But for me all those who are assembled here are my Gods." .

Early life

Rajkumar was born on April 24, 1929 in a Kannada speaking family at Gajanur, in the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore. The village is now located in the Erode district of Tamil Nadu along its border with Karnataka His mother tongue is Kannada. His father, Singanalluru Puttaswamayya, who was a theater artist and his mother, Lakshmamma, named their eldest son Mutturaju after Lord Muthathi Raya.

Career

Film

File:Rajkumar RK2284.JPG

A painting of Rajkumar in a streetboard in Bangalore

Rajkumar started his career as a theater artist with his father in a troupe led by the legendary Gubbi Veeranna. It was here that Rajkumar honed his acting and singing skills.

Bedara Kannappa, a 1954 Kannada language movie, marked his entry into the film world. This movie was directed by H L N Simha who also christened him Rajkumar. Rajkumar would use the same name for the rest of his life. He later forayed into film production with the hugely popular Ranadheera Kanteerava which he produced with another legend of Kannada cinema, Balakrishna. This movie which was made exclusively with technicians from Karnataka also marked the beginning of full fledged film making in Karnataka.One of the all time famous song "Shivappa Kaayo tande" was from his first movie.

He acted with many actresses such as Pandaribai, Leelavathi, Lakshmi, Ambika, Manjula, Jayamala, Jayachitra, Mahalaxmi, Kalpana, Jayanti, Bharati, Aarathi, Jayaprada, Madhavi, Geetha, Sarita, Gayatri and others from neighbouring states. He acted with many directors of the south Indian cinema from B.R. Pantulu, Puttanna Kanagal to Shankar Nag and Nagabharana. With the exception of one Telugu movie called "Kalahasti Mahathyam" he acted only in Kannada movies.

File:Rajkumar Mgrraj4.JPG

with MGR

In his lifetime, Rajkumar acted in 206 Kannada movies, excluding guest appearances. He owned a film production company called Vajreshwari Production, which produced films under the banner of Dakshayani Combines. Bhagyada Bagilu was his 100th movie and Devatha Manushya was his 200th movie.Rajkumar the actor one who never turned to other languages, in spite of having a huge demand and chances to be in. He participated in several protest marches such as "Gokak Chaluvali" for the welfare of Kannada and Karnataka. Whenever there is a threat to the sovereignty of the culture and people of Kannada, he always took the leadership. That's why still people of Kannada resembles him as their own brother and always keeps him in their heart.

He produced and starred in Kaviratna Kalidasa and Shankar-Guru. He produced movies based on famous Kannada novels. He also made many movies against social evils. One such movie is Shabdavedi which is against the evil of drugs, which was his final movie.

Singing

As many as 17 singers gave voice to Rajkumar before he started singing his own songs including Srinivas, Yesudas and Ghantasala Venkateshwara Rao. Rajkumar had trained in classical music while in Gubbi Veranna's drama troupe. He had sung a song in the movie Mahishasura Mardini with G K Venkatesh as the music director. Rajkumar however, did not become a full fledged singer until his song Yare Koogadali from the movie Sampathige Sawal. Prior to his singing in Sampathige Sawal, Rajkumar's songs were sung by P. B. Sreenivas. After Yare Koogadali he sang for most of his movies. He received a national award for singing for the song "Naadamaya" in the film "Jeevana Chaitra". He sang for many private albums which were mainly devotional albums. Rajkumar lent his voice to a few other actors and sang many background solos.

Rajkumar was also a good harmonium player.

Personal life

Family

Rajkumar's brother, S.P. Varadaraju worked with him in his production company. He had 2 sisters, Sharadamma and Nagamma.

He was married to Parvathamma, who later became a film producer. They have three sons, Shivaraj Kumar, Raghavendra Rajkumar and Puneet Rajkumar, and two daughters, Lakshmi and Poornima.

Kannada language movement

Main article: Gokak agitation

Rajkumar was asked to lead a movement about making Kannada a compulsory language for primary education based on the "Gokak report" popularly known as "Gokak varadhi". He became actively involved in the movement and soon became the force behind the Gokak movement. He took a rally from Belgaum to Bangalore and gave speeches about the importance of Kannada. The government responded and Kannada became a compulsory language of education in Karnataka.

Kidnapping

On July 30, 2000, at the age of 72, Rajkumar, his son-in-law Govindaraju and two others were kidnapped from the actor's house at Gajanur in Tamil Nadu. Rajkumar was released unharmed on November 15, 2000, after 109 days of captivity.

Death and aftermath

Rajkumar died at his home in Sadashivanagar, Bangalore, on April 12, 2006 following a cardiac arrest.

His death precipitated a city-wide reaction. Following the news of his death, there was major unrest in the city of Bangalore. The then Chief Minister, H.D.Kumaraswamy, later claimed that the violence was instigated by vested political interests. However the opposition blamed it on lack of timely arrangements by responsible organizations. Some newspapers articles attributed the violence to the Kannada population showing the angst over the death of the beacon of Kannada unity on the back of the dwindling Kannada-speaking population in the city. An unofficial bandh (closure of all shops and other establishments) was announced. More than 100 vehicles were burnt and eight people were killed in police firing.

The Karnataka government announced to make a Rs 10 crore memorial in the memory of Rajkumar at Kanteerava studios.

Awards and honours

Rajkumar received numerous state, national and international awards.

• Honorary doctorate from Mysore University in 1976.
• 10 Filmfare awards in the best actor category
• Nine state awards in the best actor category.
• National Award in Best Male Playback Singer category in the year 1993 for the song "Naadamaya ee Lokavella" from the movie "Jeevana Chaitra".
• Padma Bhushan award in 1983
• Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1995
• Karnataka Ratna in the year 1993
• "Nata Saarvabhowma" (The Emperor of Acting) in 1967
• NTR National Award for the year 2002.

External links

• Rajkumar at IMDb