Opinion - Editorials   

The quintessential Kannada icon

Film stars rising to the status of cult figures has been a phenomenon witnessed in most of the southern States. If Rajkumar, who passed away in Bangalore on Wednesday, was from the same mould, he stood apart in one respect. He scrupulously avoided any involvement in politics, and proximity to any particular political figure, although political parties avidly courted him. Yet, he did not fail to identify himself with popular causes worth fighting for. In 1982, when the State Government seemed to ignore the recommendations of the Gokak Committee meant to ensure primacy for Kannada in school education, he assumed the leadership of a mass agitation responding to a call by those who sponsored it. The agitation finally ensured that the regional language got its due. That was a high point for Rajkumar. While he was a truly versatile actor, having played lead roles — albeit formulaic — in mythological films, romantic films, family dramas, and action films in a career spanning five decades and with remarkable box-office success, his true legacy may lie in the manner in which he epitomised a certain pride in Kannada. He was able to strike a chord with the people who needed a unifying force in a State that was formed in 1956 through the merger of different regional components that had strikingly diverse characteristics, and he thus contributed significantly to the notion of Karnataka. He was in many ways more than an icon of regional identity. He will also be remembered for the manner in which he brought a new level of respectability to Kannada cinema as a whole, marking a transition from a stage where the educated middle class in general looked down upon it.

Born Muthuraju Singanalluru Puttaswamayya as the son of an impoverished touring theatre actor and discovered by a movie producer at the age of eight, he dropped out of school to play minor characters until he got the lead in the 1954 film Bedara Kannappa. He worked hard and earned fame and wealth, acting in more than 200 films, all in Kannada, and also singing on the screen. His fans fondly called him annavru, meaning elder brother. As an actor he would seldom play a villain, and was the epitome of good character. This was so in real life as well. He had the image of Mr. Clean. He shunned smoking and drinking on screen and off, and practised yoga, crediting his youthful looks to it. When brigand Veerappan kidnapped him and held him captive in the forests in 2000 for 108 days, he overcame the ordeal, exhibiting grit and determination, despite his advanced age and failing health. Indeed, it earned Rajkumar much sympathy, and added in no small measure to his semi-mythical stature. Rajkumar's fan club has cut across class lines, and he has been particularly popular with younger people, who often stood in line for days to see his films on the day of their release. The kind of volatility witnessed among his fans on the streets of Bangalore in the wake of the thespian's passing is probably a concomitant of popular idolatry.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

The quintessential Kannada icon
Maintaining strategic ambiguity
Office of profit and disqualification
Creating dispensable citizens
Corrections and clarifications
An icon
Unfortunate violence
Narmada issue
Dance bars

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu