Rajkumar

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Singanalluru Mutturaju (24 April 1929 – 12 April 2006), also known mononymously by his stage name Rajkumar, was an Indian playback singer and film actor in the Kannada cinema.

He has been widely regarded as one of India's finest actors and holds a matinée idol status, including Nata Saarvabhouma (the emperor of actors), Bangarada Manushya (man of gold), Vara Nata (elder brother Raj) and Rajanna (elder brother, Raj).

In 1983, Padma Bhushan Award Honouring him.

Rajkumar came into film after a long stint as a dramatist with Gubbi Veeranna's Gubbi Drama Company, which he joined at the age of eight, before getting his first glimpse as a lead in the 1954 film Bedara Kannappa.

He went on to appear in over 220 films, many of which were notable for their diction and historical characters, including Bhakta Kumbara (1960), Immadi Pulikeshi (1970), Mayura (1975), and Bhakta Prahlada (1983).

He has mainly appeared in his own films since 1974.

"Yaare Koogadali," "Huttidare Kannada," "Hey Dinakara," "Hrudaya Samudra"), and "Naada Maya" became extremely popular.

He was given the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer for his role in the latter film.

Rajkumar, who is best known for his disciplined, simple lifestyle on both personal and professional fronts, is also a dedicated Yoga, Pranayama, and Carnatic music performer.

He was abducted from his farmhouse in Gajanur by Veerappan in 2000 and was released after 108 days.

In 2005, he made his last film appearance in Jogi.

Rajkumar died of cardiac arrest at his Bangalore residence on April 12, 2006, age 77. He received nine Best Actor and two Best Artist awards, nine Filmfare Awards South, and one National Film Award in his film career.

He has a record of winning the Best Actor and Karnataka State Film Award for the first time in history.

In 2002, he was given the NTR National Award.

He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Mysore in 1983 and the Padma Bhushan Award in 1995 for lifetime contributions to Indian cinema.

Early life

Singanalluru Puttamaiah Muthuraj was born in a Kannada speaking family in Dodda Gajanur, a hamlet in the Talavady taluk. Kannada was his mother tongue. Puttaswamayya and his mother Lakshma were both impoverished theatre performers from Singanalluru. Puttaswamayya was an excellent at playing mythical roles such as Kamsa, Ravana, and Hiranyakashipu. Muthuraj left school at eight years old and was later discovered by film directors, who portrayed him in small roles until he was 25 years old.

Muthuraj is a Hindu deity Hanuman who is a temple deity located in Muthathi, a settlement on river Kaveri in present-day Karnataka.

Personal life

On June 25, 1953 in Nanjan, Rajkumar married Parvathamma, his 14-year-old cousin. This was in accordance with the betrothal that their fathers incurred after the latter's birth. They had five children together: Shiva, Raghavendra and Puneeth's sons, and Lakshmi and Poornima's daughters. The family migrated to Bangalore in 1972 after Rajkumar began receiving multiple film offers after living a "hand to mouth existence" since marriage in a joint family with 24 children in Madras.

Lifestyle

Rajkumar was known for his disciplined man in both personal and professional life. In the morning and evening, he enjoyed Carnatic music for an hour a day. Gaanagandharva was a male singer who was referred to as a heavenly singer. Another notable feature of his punctuality is his punctuality. He started every morning at 4 a.m., and Yoga and Pranayama are said to be the reason for his physical and mental fitness. In the first clips of his film Kaamana Billu, his Yoga performances can be seen. At the time of his death, his waist size was 32. This fitness is attributed to his yoga practice. Actor John Kokken had revealed that Rajkumar was the inspiration behind him doing Yoga every day.

Both on screen and off, he shunned smoking and drinking. He made sure that the positions he accepted did not include nicotine, alcohol, or utter swear words, avoiding a precedent among his followers, and that he continued this practice to real life. His dressing code consisted of a basic white dhoti and shirt. He spent the majority of his holiday in Gajanur, which is near the forest area where he was later abducted.

Anna Daataru (food manufacturers) and adorned followers as Abhimaani Devarugalu (Fan Gods), and he will always refer to his film-producers as Anna Daataru (Fan Gods). Raghavendra Swami was a devotee. In 1961, he led a drive to obtain funds for drought relief.

Girish Kasaravalli had praised his simplicity, humility, innocence, and straight-forwardness. Singeetam Srinivasa Rao was named as one of the two amusing people he has encountered in his lifetime. P. Balasubrahmanyam had praised his courteous and down to earth demeanor.

After learning that they were not being served food on the set, Kannada filmmaker J.G.Krishna revealed that Rajkumar was responsible for light boys being served by the film production team, he decided to make it compulsory for all Kannada film makers, treating them on par with the production house employees.

In 2001, he opened Shaktidhaama, a women's rehabilitative home who were rescued from the prostitution racquet's clutches. He endorsed the Nandini brand of milk from the Karnataka Milk Federation for free.

He had promised his eyes in 1994 at the time of the bank's establishment in Dr. Rajkumar Eye Bank, and he rightly did so after his death in 2006. His act of eye donation was likened to his role in Bedara Kannappa, in which he plucks his eyes to restore the Shivalinga's bleeding eyes.

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Career

Muthuraj began his acting career with his father in a drama troupe led by Gubbi Veeranna and later joined Subbaiah Naidu. He was discovered by film producer H. L. N. Simha, who was on the lookout for a well-built, pleasant-faced man for the starring role in Bedara Kannappa in 1953. Simha later signed Muthuraj for the film and named him Rajkumar.

Rajkumar had appeared in Bhakta Prahlada's 1942 film Bhakta Prahlada as Sage Agasthya, one of the Saptarishis (seven sages). Even before he recognised himself, it was an insignificant position in which his career was dominated.

Apart from one Telugu film, Kalahasti Mahatyam, which was a remake of his debut Kannada movie Bedara Kannappa, he appeared only in Kannada films throughout his career.

He appeared in 205 films as lead actors. Under the banner Dakshayani Combines, he owned a production firm called Sri Vajreshwari Combines. Bhagya Bagilu was his 100th film, Devatha Manushya was his 200th film, and Shabdavedhi was his last film.

His characters ranged from mythological, historical, devotional, James Bond styled spies to romantic, rural, action roles, and portrayals of contemporary social causes over the course of five decades. The Kumara Thrayaru of Kannada cinema was described as the Kumara Thrayaru of Kannada cinema by Rajkumar and his contemporaries, Udaya Kumar and Kalyan Kumar. He appeared in 36 films with Udaya Kumar and in 5 films with Kalyan Kumar.

His historical films, including Ranadheera, Immadi Puikeshi, Sri Krishnadevaraya, and Mayura, respectively, portrayed Karnataka's history, focusing on the roles of four key Indian kings, including Mysore, The Chalukyas, The Vijayanagara Empire, and The Kadambas, made him the only Indian actor to have portrayed the role of four important Indian kings. In Jagajyothi Basveshwara and as Raja Mallasarja in Kittur Chennamma, he has also appeared as Bijjala II.

Purandara Dasa in Nava Kumbara, Kanaka Dasa in Bhakta Kumbara, Sri Raghavendra Swamy in Bhakta Kumbara, Khata Kumbara, Naphna, Kumbara, Kumbha, Tetha Tumbara, Kumbara, Appanna in Bhakta Kumbarra, Bhakta Kumbara, Appanna in Bhakta Kumbara, Bhakta Kumbara, Kabir Dasa Kabir Dasa

On the Indian on-screen, he has the rare distinction of playing both Devas and Asuras in a nearly equal number. Though he has played Lord Ram in Sri Ramanjaneya, Lord Vishnu, Lord Krishna in Gange Gowri, Narada in Bhakta Prahlada, Bhasmasura, Mahisha Mardini, he has also appeared in Bhata Bhata Prahlada, Bhatchhatha, Bhata Paraphrasedura's Mishnu, Mooro, Maharaj, Morisura, Mahisha Kannappa, Chandrahasa, Harishchandra, Satya Harishchandra, Satya Harishchandra, Valmiki and Chyavana Maharshi in Sathi Sukanya, are among his more famous mythological characters. In addition, he is the only actor to play Arjuna and his two sons. Though he appeared in Shree Krishna Gaarudi as Arjuna, he also appeared in the role of Nagarjuna in Nagarjuna and as Babruvahana in Babruvahana.

He has appeared in about 50 movies based on novels, films, and short stories, the highest for any actor in India. In films like Jeevana Chaitra (on illicit use) and Shabdavedhi (on drug use), he made films from Kannada novels and made films against suspected social inebriation.

Kannada's film industry produced 207 films in a span of 15 years, from 1954 to 1969, and Rajkumar appeared in 100 of them. Although he appeared in fantasy genre films like Rani Honnamma (1960), Aasha Sundari (1961), Delava Maga (1966), and Devara Gedda Manava (1977), he was also known for producing swashbuckler films like Madhu (1966), Bahaddur Gandu (1972), and Huliya Mevu (1979), as well as Bahaddur Gandu (1976).

When Rajkumar appeared in Jedara Bale as CID 999, he became the first Indian actor to play a spy role modeled on James Bond in a fully fledged manner, earning the nicknamed James Bond of India. Goa Dalli CID 999, Operation Jackpot Nalli C.I.D 999, and Operation Diamond Racket were among the three sequels that resulted from the film's success: the success of this film resulted in three sequels: Goa Dalli CID 999, Operation Jackpot Nalli C.I.D 999, and Operation Diamond Racket. The CID 999 franchise was India's first Bollywood movie franchise to have four installments, and the CID 999 was India's first character based trilogy.

He appeared in films starring Jayanti (18 films), Pandaribai (18 films), Bharati (28 films), B. Saroja Devi (13 films), B. Saroja Devi (12 films), Manjula (11 films), Jadh (11 films), and Jayaprada (4 films). Rekha made her debut in a leading role in his film Operation Jackpot Nalli C.I.D 999. Sabeetha Perera, a Sri Lankan-based actress, made her Bollywood debut with his film Goa Dalli CID 999. Chi. Udaya Shankar has written dialogues and songs for 85 of his films. G. K. Venkatesh has produced soundtracks for more than half of his films. He also has the distinction of being with more than 75 directors.

Operation Diamond Racket was shot in Nepal and became the first Kannada film to be shot outside of India. His film Ondu Muttina Kathe was reported to be India's first Indian film to feature an underwater action sequence shot in an ocean outside of India without the use of oxygen masks.

Kasturi Nivasa, Rajkumar's 1971 film, was colorized and released in 2014. The film, which was close to a decade after his death, received a grand opening with the actor's life-size cutout being immersed in milk. The colorized version of the Kannada film also did well at the box office, despite the fact that other Kannada movies were not available at the time. The 35 films have been remade in nine languages by 34 actors.

When he was with Gubbi Veeranna's theatre company, Rajkumar trained in classical music. The song "Om Namaha Shivaya" from the 1956 film Ohileshwara, in which he also appeared, was his first song for a film. He sang "Thumbi Manava," a duet with S. Janaki for the film Mahishasura Mardini (1959). However, he became a full-fledged singer only in 1974, when he appeared in place of P. B. Sing for the majority of songs picturing Rajkumar's was released.

According to the scene's mood, Rajkumar has been praised for his singing across various genres and each rendition. He combined the skills of both poetry and music in "Yaaru Tiliyaru Ninna" for Babruvahana (1977), a prosodic form of Kannada poetry in which the tone must be a mashup of sarcasm and rage. Nee Nanna Gellalare (1981), he performed two songs, "Jeeva Hoovagide" and "Anuraga Enaytu"; starting both with the line "I love you" which is full of Carnatic gamakas. They take on a life of their own in the former and love, but in the latter, they take on a discord. He is best known for his interpretation of "Nadamaya" for Jeevana Chaitra (1992), a song based on Todi's raga and with intricate graces and strings in various ragas as it progresses. He converts ragas with ease and sings complicated swara patterns like a professional classical artiste. He was named Best Male Playback Singer for his role in the film. His frequent association with the composer pair of Rajan-Nagendra (1967), Nyaya Devaru (1971), Swayamvara (1973), Nanobba Kalyana (1982), and Chalisugan Modagalu (1982).

The duets of Rajkumar are mainly recorded with S. Janaki and Vani Jairam. P. Susheela, Bangalore Latha, H. P. Geetha, K. S. Chitra, Swarnalatha, Manjula Gururaj, B. R. Chaya, Kasturi Shankar, Rathnamala Prakash, Sulochana, and others have performed with him.

Rajkumar performed and performed for songs about Kannadigas, Kannada language, and culture, such as "Jenina Holeyo" from Jeevana Chaitra and "Huttidare Kannada" from the film Aakasmika. In the film Operation Diamond Racket, he performed a complete English song called "If You Come Today" ("Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick T Following Rajkumar's demise in 2006, this song became a viral meme in India.

In later years, he lent his voice to a handful of actors and performed background solos. He performed Deepavali from Muddina Maava, giving him a back-up to S. P. Balasubrahmanyam. This was a rare occurrence. "Hrudaya Kalaki" from Ashwamedha and "Hey Dinakara" from Om are two other popular songs performed by Rajkumar for other actors. He has performed "Maaniya Veena" and ghazal-based songs, "Kanneera Dhaare," and "Yaava Kaviyu."

Starting with "Mantralayakke Hogona" in 1972, Rajkumar began recording many devotional songs for Columbia Recording Company beginning in the 1970s. His album "Guruvara Bantamma" was also released at the time. Sangeetha Cassettes became India's first authorized pre-recorded cassettes in 1979. The saint Raghavendra and Hanuman were praised in devotional songs by Rajkumar.

He has performed in about 75 musical nights and about 200 folk and devotional songs, the proceeds of which were given away to charity.

It was also stated that his versatility and diction contributed greatly to his success as a singer, whether it was qawwali, ghazal, bhajan, or English songs, in addition to handling a variety of emotions, such as vivacious, passion, or sarcasm.

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