It’s true — legends never die! And they go onto inspire generations with their works and beliefs. Namma Annavaru — Kannada thespian late Dr Rajkumar lives through his inspiring roles, and his kindness both on and off screen. Most recently, the late Dr Rajkumar has been a motivating force in some feature films that have resurrected him in the lead. Films like Raajakumara, Bangara s/o Bangarada Manushya, both featuring his sons —Puneeth Rajkumar and Shivarajkumar, respectively, got an amazing response with stories that were webbed around the iconic characters of Dr Rajkumar. The latest was Ondu Motteya Kathe where Dr Rajkumar plays an inspiring role. Bengaluru Chronicle reports on the legendary trend.
“Every character played by Dr Rajkumar in his long illustrious career with more than 200 films is sacred. They were not just entertaining, they also spread a message. Even directors and technicians have a great role to play, as they came up such meaningful characters, which Dr Rajkumar would effortlessly portray, making them iconic. They made the audience relate to them in reality. Some roles like that of Rajeeva’s character in Bangarada Manushya and the one in Kasturi Nivasa, have attained greatness due to this. They are considered to be the topmost films in Dr Rajkumar’s film career. This is also one of the reasons why recently the released-film Raajakumara featuring Puneeth Rajkumar, has great similarities of those selfless act of Annavaru in Kasturi Nivasa and this instantly connected with the audience,” says Srinivas, a film historian.
Similarly, Bangara s/o Bangarada Manushaya that has Shivarajkumar in the lead role emphasises the problems of farmers and is inspired by the character in Bangarada Manushaya, which ran for years when it released. Both Raajakumara and Bangara s/o Bangarada Manushya, has Dr Rajkumar in a special role, as the father figure. While there have been several films in the past where Dr Rajkumar’s iconic role has re-appeared, the latest tale Ondu Motteya Kathe has the legend himself playing a character, and the best part is that the film team has nowhere used the name of the legend to promote their film!
“I sketched a character which was very passive and inactive. Such characters are never preferred onscreen. It is always the stronger characters that attract or win over audiences, be it in real life or in films. However, the lead character is a bald Kannada lecturer and it worked due to the humorous tone to it. I had to introduce another character that could inspire the lead and guide him. This is when I thought of introducing Dr Rajkumar as himself, who plays a character in the film, inspiring and guiding the protagonist. For a Kannada lecturer, and a huge fan of Dr Rajkumar, it cannot be anyone but Annavaru,” says Raj B. Shetty, the director of Ondu Motteya Kathe.
He further adds that the legend’s role in the film does not speak. “We never make use of his presence in the films as something to promote the film. I am a huge fan of Dr Rajkumar, I cannot make use such an iconic personality as a promotional aspect. No one knew about it till the film got released, as we did not even use it in our trailers,” says Raj Shetty.
A recently-released film Nagarahaavu had Sahasasimha, the late Dr Vishnuvarshan in a special role. The legend was recreated digitally for a few minutes in the climax. The film failed at the box office, and many expressed displeasure for misusing the legend’s name for publicity stunts. In an upcoming film Simhadrya Simha, the late Vishnuvardhan will again be digitally recreated for the film starring the legend’s son-in-law Anirudh Jatkar.
