Bengaluru, 08 December (H.S.):

Dr Rajkumar the legendary Kannada film actor singer's contribution to Indian Cinema remains unparalleled in the history pages.

His tyrast with performing arts began way back in 1930s, by the virtue of him being a thatre artist.

His father Singanalluru Puttaswamaih was a good actor and singer well known for his outstanding performances in role of demons in mythological plays . He was associated with Gubbi Veeranna and MV Subbaiah Naidu companies.

Muthuraju as the thespian was known then did act in a movie in the mid 1940s as a child Artist. But that was a miniscule role that didn't even register on the silver screen.

Through the movie Bedara Kannappa (1954) Muthuraju was introduced as Rajkumar to film industry. Bedara Kannappa released on 7th May 1954 scripted history in the annals of Indian cinema history. A star was born through this movie.

Dr Rajkumar galloped his way to 100 movies by 1968. By then he had acted in devotional, mythological, historical, folk Lore and social genres of movies. His resolve to act only in Kannada movies made him extraordinary.

His commitment to promote rich culture of Kannada literature was evident by the fact that novels by famous Kannada poets were adapted to screen.

The track Yaare Koogadali in Sampatige Sawal ( 1974) added a new dimension to his career as a play back singer.

Naaniruvude Nimagagi in Mayura (1975) cemented his position as the ultimate Actor Singer of Kannada Film Industry.

Parvathamma Rajkumar established M/s Vajreshwari Combines (1975) for Kannada film production, distribution and exhibition enterprise changed the destiny of Rajkumar clan.

Anand (1986) introduced Dr Rajkumar's eldest son Shiva Raj Kumar as a lead actor. The movie paved way for the career of the second generation of Raj Kumar clan.

Devatha Manushya (1988) was Dr Rajkumar's 200 th movie in the lead, the first ever film fraternity member to have acted in the lead in the annals of Kannada Film Industry.

Chiranjeevi Sudhakar (1988 ) and Appu (2002) launched the career of Raghavendra Rajkumar and Puneeth Rajkumar respectively.

Since then Rajkumar clan collectively have acted in more than 350 movies which remains a national record in the grand Indian film industry.

The very fact that one single clan has contributed for the cause of cinema is not only worth recording but also a thorough research for posterity.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Manjunath Chavan