Kannada actor Rajkumar passes away

      Bangalore: Veteran Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar died here on Wednesday at the age of 78 following a cardiac arrest. Raj Kumar was admitted to the Wockhardt Hospital and Heart Institute on Monday, and then was subsequently shifted to the M S Ramaiah Hospital, where he breathed his last in the presence of his family members. He is survived by wife Parvathamma and his son Raghavendra. In February, he was admitted to the Wockhardt Hospital after he complained of breathing difficulty and chest pain. Doctors at the hospital had then said that the death of his younger brother Vardaraj a fortnight ago had personally affected him. Vardaraj had managed Raj Kumar's film career. Family members said that the Amitabh Bachchan of the South Indian film industry had been ailing for sometime. People from all walks of life, including political leaders, members of the Kannada film industry, have started visiting the late actor's residence to pay their respects. His personal physician, Dr Ramana Rao, said that every attempt was made to revive him, but without much success.

    In 2000, Rajkumar survived a 108-day ordeal in the Satyamangalam forests of Karnataka after brigand Veerappan kidnapped him along the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border. For this Padma Bhushan and Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner and the recipient of nearly nine state awards (for the best actor), 10 Filmfare Awards and even a National Award in the Best Singer category-- the title of `Nata Saarvabhowma` (the Emperor of Acting) conferred by his fans, spoke volumes of the man, considered an undisputed cult figure in Karnataka.

     The legend, Mutturaju Singanalluru Puttaswamayya, was born on April 24, 1929 at Gajanur in Tamil Nadu before he was christened `Rajkumar` for the Karnataka celluloid world by director HLN Simha, who discovered the would-be-matinee idol at a bus depot and signed him on as a full-fledged hero for the film `Bedara Kannappa` in 1954. The discovery not only rewrote the destiny of the 25-year-old Muthuraj but also that of the entire film history of the Kannada film world for the next 50 years. Having inherited his theatre artiste-father Sinanallur Puttaswamaiah`s acting genes, his tryst with the grease paint subsequently turned into a successful venture. His father was a doyen among stage actors - a fire-brand of sorts. His life was totally devoted to the stage - nothing beyond paint, and make-up. Rajkumar's father did not also acknowledge the proviso of a good education. Characteristically, he only fostered his gifted son, the young Muthuraj - Rajkumar's real name - to take interest in drama and plays, and also sing. Rajkumar developed a penchant for the silver screen and he strolled his way into it, when Kannada cinema was still in its infancy. Many of Rajkumar's films had seen the jubilee mark. At selective instance, his films ran to packed houses for several months, even one or two years. Nostalgia has it that every Rajkumar starrer, on the day of release, used to unleash a festive flavour of colour and splendor, at different centres, all over Karnataka. Until late 1980s, it was not uncommon for one to witness stampedes following frenzied fans' emotional paroxysms to getting tickets. While some centers, or most of them, used to become a Mecca for black-marketers, with tickets sold in multiples, or even more fanciful rates, Rajkumar, perforce, mindful of the hazards his fans were often subject to, seldom disappointed them. Rajkumar's movies always had a social message - the mother being given the highest place in practically every movie. So were good values, ethics, cultural ideals, and an all-penetrating mosaic of Kannada ethos, and 'patriotism.'

     Rajkumar was everyone's hero - he identified himself with the commonman, not the elite, even though his cultured presence on the screen appeal to the most sophisticated. This is his stamp. And, his tour de force in films such as "Hannele Chiguridaga," "Kasturi Nivasa," "Uyyale," "Eradu Kanasu," "Bhakta Kumbhara," "Babruvahana," and "Shankar Guru," in which he played an unforgettable triple role, to mention just a few, will be remembered for a long, long time to come. More so, his magnum opus, "Bangarada Manushya" - a sensitively structured, family story, with popular motifs, which ran to packed cinema halls, in Mysore and Bangalore, for over two years. Years later, the movie, on a re-run, achieved another distinction: with an 'innings' of one year, in Bangalore. Rajkumar had always been a fitness fanatic, the one-man nuclear task-force of Kannada cinema. No single actor can claim to have contributed as much as this non-archetypal box-office hero, who in the course of his 'tenure' may have proved to be the stumbling block to many a new aspirant. But, it goes without saying that the greatest have always been guilty of 'promoting' this inevitable factor of life, whatever one's field of activity. Rajkumar has seen the best of both the worlds - from Kannada cinema's pristine, ebullient existence to the age of neo- realism.

Back to Headlines                  Go To Top