How old was I when I first saw a Rajkumar film? I must have been four years old. The movie I saw was the legendary Bangarada Manushya.
I was too young to understand that film. But he was... Read The Article
I am sharing my real experience about Dr. Raj. I have almost all the devotional cassatas sung by Dr. Raj, but I have seen less than 10 movies of Dr. Raj. Since so many years, I start the day by listening to at least one song. To be frank, before listening to Raj’s songs, I was NOT his fan. Every time I listen, I really experience the God, it is as good as doing meditation. Especially, while listening to cassatas on Ganapathi, Udupi Sri Krishna and Mookambike, I have felt as if, God is about to appear. I have heard songs of other singers also, but the level of satisfaction is very very high with Dr. Raj. Really I cried on the day of Raj’s death [ first time for a person other than my fren/relative ], he was about to sing for 6 more casstes, K Kalyan had finished lyrics for Sai Baba. To be frank, I am not a mad fan/ uneducated/ violent type of fan. I like his devotional singing. He has made my life very happy. I really thank him. I DON’T LOVE DR. RAJ SINCE I AM A KANNADIGA, BUT I LOVE KANNADA BECAUSE OF DR. RAJ. THANK YOU DR. RAJ FOR GIVING ME AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE THE GOD THROUGH DEVOTIONAL SONGS.
( Posted: Thursday , May 03, 2007 at 08:44 )
Aravinda
so late, but still when i remember the day and moment i heard of my model, Raj's ......., che, i kept on weeping for minutes and remained silent for hours. though the work pressure was at peak, my Director co-operated with me to close the office for the day and pay homage. But, but no use. I am sure, I am not going to see him again. Just need to stick on to his principles (many). But, still I wish my belief go wrong and we may be able to see him some way.......!!!!?????
( Posted: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 at 18:33 )
Sathu Prakash Singh
Might be Dr Rajkumar was a great actor in Kannad film industry. I’ve not seen his movie. But, that doesn’t make him a great mass leader. All South Indian actors came into politics after they reach to each and every home thru movies and became the icons for poor / uneducated people. These uneducated people started feeling that the screen leader is their real leader. Unfortunately, even today these feelings persist. I’ve not seen any South Indian politician, created such a huge mass support without getting into movies. Why South Indians failed to produce Gandhi, Ambedkar, Sardar Patel, Tilak ,Bose, Medha Patkar ?
( Posted: Saturday , April 22, 2006 at 16:10 )
i understand ur feelings. But to make you know I would like to mention here that S. India has produced lot many men and women in the ranks and much above that of the names you have mentioned. Eg.Kittur Chennamma is the first lady to have fought against British in 1824. But you have read in history as jhansi rani. Basaweshwara of 12th century is infact the earliest social, spiritual, political, economic reformer in India. The name probably you have not heard. Thjis reflects that Indian history needs to be rewritten. So far it is only N. Indian history. Eg. PsuedoPotrayal of Shivaji as a national hero, which was never if you read history without any bias.So Indians shall come to know the richness of S. India in all spheres.
( Posted by Guruprasad on Sunday , April 23, 2006 at 12:46 )
I totally agree with you guru.
( Posted by Sathya on Sunday , April 23, 2006 at 16:14 )
Dear Guruprasad Thanks for an update. The names (Kittur Chennamma ,Basaweshwara) you have mentioned, I’ve never heard and do not know how many South Indians knows them.The fact remains the same, their fame, name ,popularity is par below than film stars turned politicians /socialist. And that hearts me.
You expect West, North and East Indians to know your history and culture but the fact is ,South Indian from one state (say Kannadiga) does not like to know about another South Indian (say Keralite).Judge it from your-self.
Ok. Even if we take Kittur Chennamma as a first lady to fight against British in 1824. What happened after that, the fight was not over. What happened in between 1824 to 1947 when rest of the India contributed Gandhis, Patels,Boses,Tilaks, Ambedkars,Bhagats etc?
Past is past. Now the time has come not to worship film stars as a God. Wake up.
( Posted by Sathu Prakash Singh on Monday , April 24, 2006 at 10:23 )
Dear Sathu Prakash Singh, Well the political scenario is dominated by North Indian's because of the sheer numbers of hindi speakers.Both South India and North India had great freedom fighters but because of North India hindi speaking dominated the politics the history you read is all about Gandhi,Nehru.Why do u think britishers gave freedom to South India?just becos gandhi asked for it.NO because we had struggled too.As for our leaders,Are u aware of first chief minister of Tamil Nadu-C.N Annadurai.He holds the Guiness world record for the maximum number of funeral attendes when he died.A record number of 1.5 crores followers attended his funeral when he died in 1969.And he was not a film actor.When Gandhi died only 17.5 lakh people had attended the funeral rally.How much north indians know about south india.In north india all south indians are refered to as MADARSIS.as if there r no other states in south india.When Rajkumar died the news channels aired "Veteran South Indian Actor Rajkumar Dies".If something happens to Amitabh Bachchan will the news headlines be "Veteran North Indian Actor Amitabh dies" or it will be "Indian Actor Amitabh dies.Who is biased u decide.
( Posted by Abhishek on Tuesday , April 25, 2006 at 10:42 )
Mr.Singh
I dont quite understand on what capacity you comment about South Indian history, South Indian movie arena and the South Indian's eagerness (or the lack of one) to know other South Indian states. For, you dont seem to know your country's history very well. I'd like to remind you that the geographical area north of Vindhyas alone is not referred to as 'India'.
( Posted by venky on Tuesday , April 25, 2006 at 15:25 )
By the way Guruprasad,since you mention Shivaji...I would like to state that the state of Maharashtra though it speaks a language with similarities to the Indo-European family of languages,the culture canvas of Maharashtra has more similarities to South India rather than the North.That makes Shivaji a leader from the South.Even in history,the Mughals always referred to the area now comprising M'tra as the Deccan or Dakkhan meaning South.And for your information Shivaji has been maligned by the 'secular' historians.The fact is he was the first revolutionary who rose against the foreign Mughals and held forth Indian culture after the fall of the Vijayanagar empire of the South.He deserves his place in history,not ridicule!
( Posted by amn on Saturday , May 06, 2006 at 18:59 )
Mr sathu singh... if u dont know anything about Dr. Raj.. KEEP QUIET. And unlike other south indian stars, Dr Raj never entered politics. If u think south doesnt have any people whom u have named, thats becoz u northies hogged the limelite all the time... and what do u know abour south india??????
( Posted by Arasu on Monday , April 24, 2006 at 12:03 )
Dear Mr Sathu, First of all "Raj Kumar" was not a politician. Plus you have decided he's a good actor without watching one single movie of his!! I know Sardar Patel doesn't belong to S India but I doubt if you can call him a N Indian either. Anyways by your name it seems that you're from punjab, where one of the politicians is a cricketer turned joker. If you know history well Karnataka has never had a movie actor becoming a chief minister. From Shankaracharya to NarayanaMurthy, the great thinkers have always been a part of S India. Anyways I don't want to talk more logic into a frog head who's determined to remain in the well of ignorance. But I request you to kindly keep your ignorance to yourself. If you can talk about S Indians I can write an epic on "India's answer to blondes".
( Posted by manoj P D on Monday , April 24, 2006 at 15:55 )
Hey Manoj I fully agree with you....
Mr.Sathu only represents those ignorant yet arrogant north Indians. He is really funny. He thinks if he hasn't heard of Dr.Raj or Annudurai they are not famous. Just goes to show his calibre!!!
( Posted by Arun M on Tuesday , April 25, 2006 at 17:51 )
Sheer Ignorance.You have not seen a single movie of Dr.RajKumar and yet you think you are qualified enough to talk about south indian icons. If you dont know about South Indian Freedom fighters we will gift you a set of our primary school history books. All your Aishwarya Rais, Sunil Shettys,Daya Nayaks and Ramadorais are South Indians who are able to rock the North.Could you pick any North Indian who has acheived success in south? Even the political parties end up in dust. If you are hungry to know more about South,watch South Indian channels and read South Indian magazines.I do pity your situation of not having enough information about us.The Mumbai centric media should take the blame for this. whatever be our internal issues...but when it comes to south...united we stand.
( Posted by Naveen on Monday , April 24, 2006 at 15:27 )
Dear Mr. Singh,
How come you forgot to mention some of the great north indian freedom fighters who are still in jail like pappu yadav, amarmani tripaty ....... the list is endless.
( Posted by sathyanarayana on Tuesday , April 25, 2006 at 16:23 )
Ramkishore
Nice post, Well..Yeah!! Rajkumar was an idol who revolutionized Kannada Cinema, if not for him..kannada cinema wud not have been where it is probably now..my tributes to the great actor, If only there was'nt any violence, confusion & chaos during his funeral procession..the masses wud have done better in giving him a more respectable send-off, one that he deserved!! May his soul rest in peace.. Kishore
( Posted: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 at 21:21 )
Sharmi Upadhyay
Guy.,
Even Rama ,Krishna and Jesus and great prophets died. Rajkumar will not die??Afterall he is a man. The only problem is he is the only hero in kannada.Lots of good actors died and even lot of real heroes died.So all the states did the same??.Afterall he is a reel hero.Why you Karnataka guys sound a lot afterall for a duplicate reel hero??.He acted for him..He gathered wealth..What you got?? If you lose 40 billion dollar he is going to come back?? Still he is an young person..Guys who do this lot of hullabulla..Think if you die.,others r going to come for your funeral??.Karnataka Guys.,you r in the IT world..comeon..dont act like a 1900 guys..
( Posted: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 at 04:31 )
Please I request guys, if you don't like all these pls pls pls don't reply or send such comments. If you think the all these sentiments make no sense to you ...ok I understand......but don't comment here like this. Wish you could understand what we feel about Rajkumar passing away. I don't like to tell like this, anyway you will understand when some one of your own passes away......then it won't matter whether ur in 2000, 1900 or 1800.......god bless you!!!...
( Posted by Rajendra on Wednesday, April 19, 2006 at 13:08 )
Sharmi, You are a bloody fool. You have to be a Kanndiga to understand what we have lost and why we were mourning the loss. For your kind of information, he was not just an actor, He was Karnataka's cultural Icon who united the different regions of Karnataka by stepping out in to Gokak agitation. Do your home work properly before commenting on any issue. If you have problems with Karnataka, then you are most unwelcome to my state. You can go back to your home town and stay happily.
( Posted by vasant on Wednesday, April 19, 2006 at 16:26 )
Wos Sharmi I know you second name is Upadhyay but that certainly does not give to any rights to give upanyas to any one you like. Why do you blame all kannadigas for what happened? there have been so many replies about this and still you cannot get such a simple thing that all this is caused by come politicians and not Dr.Raj's fans. How many times do anyone have to tell you guys.after so many days after so many comments if you are still asking this question i donno wot to call you and regarding our feeling towards Dr.Raj, plz saty out of it. If you dont have any feelings or human values dont expect the same from everyone. CHILL OUT and Leave US KANNADIGAS on our own
( Posted by nandini on Wednesday, April 19, 2006 at 16:49 )
Hello,
You cannot understand Dr.RajKumar and our feelings towards him...he is just not an actor more like our own family person... JUST TELL ME IF YOU HAVE ANY ANSWERs...HAS ANY ACTOR IN THIS WORLD WHO HAS REACHED THE HEIGHTS OF FAME EVER BEHAVED HIMSELF WITHOUT SMOKING< WITHOUT ALCHOHAL
( Posted by Vidya Nag on Thursday , April 20, 2006 at 17:17 )
Hi May i know where u r from? we kannadiga's like great people just not tht they r popular or great one's... but we love those who teach us , who lead us in the modest way... u may be a IT man... it is ur profession... but it is not humane... for we give respect to human's not mere professions...
A Kannadiga
( Posted by chan on Thursday , April 20, 2006 at 20:55 )
hi, sharmi, i think, you are not matured enough to understand the feelings and loss caused by the death of Dr.Raj to all kannadigas. if you have taken him as an actor only and commented like that,ok fine we can forgive your meaningless comment. r u in bangalore/karnataka? better mend yourself (having bread butter on our kannada land in the name of IT proffession.) learn to respect the humane values shown and contributions made by Dr. Raj.
( Posted by venkatesh R on Friday , April 21, 2006 at 12:59 )
well first of all i dont even like sayin hi to sharmi, what if we are in 21st century,we still have our sentiments,if bangalore is an IT capital that doesnt mean people wont die or u wont feel sad. u stil are the same human being.wel u said rama,krishna and jesus died. so why do u think u mentioned thier names and not some common men??? because they are famous.why do u remember them.because they have done something good to the society.do u know wat rajkumar has done ?? if u knew abt it u wudn't have commented tat way.i am surprised u say u shudnt mourn for such gr8 human being
( Posted by Prasanna on Monday , April 24, 2006 at 01:32 )
Dear Sathu Prakash Singh & Sharmi Upadhyay,
Go to google website & study about S.Indian histories by typing in key-words like "Krishna-Deva Raya,Vijayanagar empire,Pulikeshi-2,Chalukyan empire,Hyder Ali,Tipu Sultan,Kittur Rani Chennamma,Ranadheera Kanteerava(or Narasaraj Wodeyar) etc. If you cannot get enough information then go to City Central library of Bangalore-which is 10 times better than your so-called famous British library & collect information & then start commenting on S.Indians.I I you N.Indians are so much worth why did U lose Pakistan,Bangladesh etc. to foreign aggressors? Come to S.India & see how many S.Indians have been converted to Muslims? It is not that S.Indians were never proned to Muslim attacks. Egs: The Bahmani sultans ruled S.India by having Bijapur as their capital for around 300 years.Mallik Kafur(general of Alla-uddin Khilji) plundered entire S.India during 12th century A.D. Aurangazeb also did the same.But go & collect information on how a queen called Belavadi Mallamma(of a small kingdom) from Karnataka safeguarded not only S.India but also the life of Rajaram(Chatrapathi Shivaji's youngest son & brother of captivated Shaji Bhosle). if it was not her, Aurangazeb would have made S.India another Pakistan! But the greatest credit should go to Vijayanagara kings(from whom Shivaji was inspired to save Hindutva, not from your Rajputs,as Shivaji himself described Rajputs as foolish slaves of Mughals) who safeguarded Hindutva in S.India from Muslim aggression for around 3 centuries(from 12th century A.D to 15th century A.D.). Visit "Hampi" in Bellary district of Karnataka & collect information of this great empire - which is certified as 4th greatest empire ever built in the history of Mankind by UNESCO. To tell about British,the Europeans entered S.India in 1498 itself & started gaining prominence by 1750 & there are countless heroes who safeguarded S.India still 1835 A.D. & after that your entire N.India captured byBritishin1857-shortspan
( Posted by Guruprasad Kaushik on Saturday , November 25, 2006 at 16:43 )
Arasu
Dear Sathish..
Thank for the wonderful article. I still can believe that our God is no more.. I still cry thinking of him... What can I do in this moment of helplessness...
( Posted: Tuesday , April 18, 2006 at 14:04 )
jagannath
I have been seeing Rajkumar movies since 1965. In every movie he portrayed HUMAN VALUES and for the same reason he has been so popular in karnataka. He is really a world class actor and more than that a great Human being. Without philosopy we cannot understand this world and greatness of god. For me there are only two languages to understand philosophy, one is the great SANSKIRT AND ANOTHER KANNADA
( Posted: Monday , April 17, 2006 at 22:15 )
J Thirumalesh
Sathish What can I say your blog was so real,it made me really think and rethink thou The loss of Dr Rajkumar is surely some thing Karnataka can never regain .I guess its time for us to follow the love the greatest legend left behind his LOVE FOR KANNADA.I was in Delhi when this happened The popularity of annvaru is so huge that even the punjabis and haryanvis have heard about him . God was kind enough that I had opprtunity to meet Annavaru when he was admitted in Workhart Hospital a few weeks ago ,he had immense patience to meet any who wanted to meet him there was no restriction what so ever thats the quality of a great man and its unfortunate we kannadigas have lost our GREATEST MAN .My sympathies to all those who grieve the loss ,who understand what it is to loose some you love the most .So nana saha Kannadigare.Lets keep to spirit of what Annnavaru left behind .His Value and the greatest of all his respect KANNADA. Jai Karnataka
( Posted: Monday , April 17, 2006 at 20:44 )
Guruprasad
It is indeed a very good article. I am infact inspired by Dr Rajkumar and his celluloid roles. All his movies have conveyed social values, ethics that one should possess. It is a great loss that we lost him.
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