Dr Rajkumar

[hundredstrings]

A Tribute to legendary Dr Rajkumar

This is a special post on the occasion of Kannada film legend Dr Rajkumar's (1929-2006) first death anniversary... April 24th is his birthday as well.

It is hard to describe Rajkumar's personality in a few words.  In essence, he was the personification of Kannada culture.  It is hard to imagine Kannada culture without thinking about Rajkumar, and vice-versa.  He may be the only celebrity in Karnataka to have such a large fan-base, equally revered by the young and old, rich and poor, purists and modernists, lettered and unlettered!  He has the unique distinction of being a great sensation as an actor as well as a singer...  No other film personality in India could claim this fame.

Rajkumar's best movies:

95% of Rajkumar's 206 movies were hits.  So, it is hard to pick a select few.  However, here is what I think are the top 10.  If a non-Kannadiga wants to find out why Rajkumar was so famous, he or she could try seeing any of these movies.

1. Bhakta Kumbara (Devotional)
2. Mantralaya Mahatme (Devotional)
3. Kasturi Nivasa (Social)
4. Bangarada Manushya (Social)
5. Kaviratna Kalidasa (Historical)
6. Sakshatkara (Social)
7. Sampattige Sawal (Social)
8. Sanadi Appanna (Devotional - this movie features Ustad Bismillah Khan's shehnai)
9. Babhruvahana (Mythological)
10. Hosa Belaku (Social)

Rajkumar's Best Solo Songs

Rajkumar started singing for himself in 1976.  Between 1954 and 1976, it was P. B. Sreenivos (PBS, termed by some as the Mukesh of the South) who was his voice.  Many people think PBS, one of the greatest singers from South India, was more suited for Rajkumar. This is debatable. The period from late 70s to early 90s was the golden era of Rajkumar's voice and most of the hits below are from this period:

1. Baanigondu Elle Ellide (Film: Premada Kaanike)
2. Aaradhisuve Madanaari (Film: Babhruvahana)
3. Yaare Koogaadali (Film: Sampattige Sawal, his real debut as a solo singer [he had sung a few times earlier])
4. Kanneera Dhaare Ideke (Film: Hosa Belaku)
5. Naaniruvude Nimagaagi (Film: Mayura)
6. Manikyaveena (Film: Kaviratna Kalidasa)
7. Baalu Belakaayitu (Film: Haalu-Jenu)
8. Ninagaagi Ododi Bande (Film: Sanadi Appanna)
9. Manavanaaguveya Illa Danavanaaguveya (Film: Bahaddoor Gandu)
10. Muttinantha Maatondu Gottenamma (Film: Bahaddoor Gandu)
11. Beladingalaagi Baa (Film: Huliya Haalina Mevu)
12. Baale Premageete (Film: Jwalamukhi)
13. Enendu Naa Helali (Film: Girikanye)
14. Cheluveye Ninna Nodalu (Film: Hosa Belaku)
15. Chinna Baalalli Ee Ratri (Film: Shankar Guru)
16. Haalu Jenu Ondaada Haage (Film: Haalu Jenu)
17. Ninna Nudiyu Honna Nudiyu (Film: Badavara Bandhu)
18. Nanna Ninna Manavu Seritu (Film: Bhyagyavantaru)
19. Entha Soundarya Kande (Film: Ravi-Chandra)
20. Cheluveya Nota Chenna (Film: Shankar Guru)
21. Hey Ninagaagiye (Film: Bahaddoor Gandu)
22. Hosa Belaku Moodutide (Film: Hosa Belaku)
23. Entha Sogasu (Film: Taayige Takka Maga)
24. Jeeva Hoovagide (Film: Nee Nanna Gellalaare)

[hundredstrings]

It is well known that Dr Rajkumar was known as "Anna" or "Annavru" [respected elder brother] throughout Karnataka.  Do you know who used to address Rajkumar as "Thamma" [younger brother]?  It is G. K. Venkatesh, one of the greatest music directors from South India.  In fact, it was G. K. Venkatesh who got Rajkumar into singing, first with S. Janaki in 1958, in the movie "Mashishasura Mardini".  The duet is "Tumbitu Manava Tanditu Sukhava".

Later in 1976, G. K. Venkatesh made Rajkumar sing again... this time a solo song "Yaare Koogadali".  This song became one of the biggest hits in the history of Kannada film music and launched Rajkumar's career as a singer as well.

Interestingly, G. K. Venkatesh gave music to 55 of Rajkumar's 206 movies -- that's a record!  Here are some movies that feature the great songs directed by GKV:

- Bangaarada Manushya (5 songs, each a super hit, and each song is more than 5 minutes long!)
- Bhakta Kumbara (some of the best devotional songs, featuring Dr P. B. Sreenivos)
- Kasturi Nivasa (GKV himself sang the sad version of "Aadisidaata Besaramoodi Aata Mugisida")
- Sanadi Appanna (featuring Ustad Bismillah Khan on Shehnai)
- Raja Nanna Raja
- Huliya Haalina Mevu
- Sandhya Raga (the story of a classical musician, Dr M Balamuralikrishna co-directed the music with GKV)
- Kanyarathna (featuring great hits "Binkada Singaari" and "Suvvi Suvvi Suvvaale")
- Operation Diamond Racket (some hit duets)
- Haalu Jenu
- Mayura
- Kannu Teredu Nodu (GKV sang the patriotic song "Kannadada Makkalella Ondaagi Banni" -- I had the fortune of hearing GKV sing this live in 1987, as a part of Rajyotsava celebrations in KG Circle, Bangalore)

Ilaiyaraja is a disciple of GKV, and he has worked in many movies of Dr Rajkumar.  The guitar in the song "Aadisi Nodu" and "Aadisidaata Besaramoodi" are played by Ilaiyaraja I heard.  One can observe the heavy Ilaiyaraja-ness in the songs of "Raja Nanna Raja" and "Ade Kannu".

[musicbuff]

I found a nice article on themusicmagazine.com about "Legends" CD/cassette set, a compilation of Dr Rajkumar's songs.  I have presented the same below, with a few corrections.

Rajkumar's rich musicscape

Legends brings 67 Rajkumar songs in five volumes. It walks you through energetic numbers like Yaare koogadali, devotional numbers like Guruvara bantamma, and melancholy hits like Idu yaaru bareda katheyo

How many of today's actors can sing? Close to none. Many young heroes who do attempt singing do it just for novelty. They have no music training, and no clue to raga grammar. Give them a tune that calls for some subtlety and you'll find them wanting.

Rajkumar comes from that era when actors couldn't survive if they didn't know music. He acted for some years in company drama, where all actors used to be groomed in diction and music. Tunes were mostly raga-based, and if an actor couldn't sing them well enough, he got nowhere.

Naadamaya, which won Rajkumar the national award for best playback singing, may not be a very unusual song, but no other film actor in India -- including Rajkumar's own fairly successful actor-sons -- could have sung it. It is based on raga Todi, with its complex graces, and strings other ragas as it progresses. He switches ragas with ease, and sings complex swara patterns like a professional classical artiste.

Legends presents 67 Rajkumar songs on five tapes. Naadamaya is not included, but it could well have been, considering that other songs from Jeevana Chaitra (1992) have made it to the collection. His popular theatre-style songs from the mythological Babruvahana also don't figure here.

Rajkumar has been the leading hero in Kannada cinema for five decades, but he emerged as a singer only mid-way in his career, when he sang the energetic and wildly popular Yaare koogadali in the 1974 film Sampatthige Sawal. Legends presents this song in Volume 1.

Till then, P B Srinivas had been Rajkumar's voice, giving Kannada cinema some of its most beautiful, stylised songs. By stylised, I mean songs that didn't depend on classical ragas, but which experimented with all kinds of tonal and orchestral colour. Just two songs to remind you of the quality of the P B Srinivas musical period: Nee mudida mallige hoovina maale and Nee bandu nintaaga. Brooding, intense and lovely.

Once Rajkumar the singer was discovered, P B Srinivas all but lost his job. Like Mukesh, Srinivas had a certain melancholic heaviness: his voice could handle lighter songs all right, but it excelled in the sad ones. Rajkumar's voice was capable of greater vivacity, best seen in songs like Naa ninna mareyalaare, from the 1976 film of the same name, and Thai thai thai thai bangaari from Girikanye (1977). These films are represented in Legends with one song each -- Girikanye with Yenendu naa helali and Naa Ninna Mareyalaare with Nannaaseya hoove. Both films had music by Rajan Nagendra.

Rajkumar sang some good melancholic numbers too. Take, for example, Idu yaaru bareda katheyo from the murder mystery Premada Kaanike, whose story, incidentally, was written by Salim-Javed. He conveys the song's fatalism with restraint, in a tune composed by Upendra Kumar.

The similarly pensive Kanneera dhare ideke ideke from Hosa Belaku is one of his very best songs. Based on raga Lalit, its tune is clearly taken from a Jagjit Singh ghazal, but Rajkumar brings to it an intensity all his own. M Ranga Rao, who made the music for that film, was moved to tears when he heard Rajkumar's rendering at the studio, and rushed to hug him.

Chi Udayashankar, who wrote all his songs in the initial two decades, also contributed to Rajkumar's musical popularity by writing transparent, lucid lyrics.

Tanuvu manavu from Raja Nanna Raja (1976) is one of my favourites. It shows Rajkumar at his flamboyant best. He sings the notes clipped and gamaka-free, firmly establishing his versatility. The music is by G K Venkatesh, who got the best out of Rajkumar. Other notable Venkatesh songs in this collection are Beladingalagi baa and Ninagaagi ododi bande.

In many Venkatesh songs, the interludes give the songs a fascinating character. The 1980 film Haalu Jenu saw him out of form, but just look at the prelude and interludes in Chinnada mallige hoove from Huliya Haalina Mevu (1979) to understand his brilliance. The orchestral bridge passages are rivetting in their very unpredictability.

Another Venkatesh song that distinguishes itself with fine interludes is Ade Kannu. Taken from a less successful film of the same name, it shows Rajkumar singing with a heightened tremolo. I suspect Ilaiyaraja made the bleak, pounding, fear-evoking interludes: they bear his stamp. He was Venkatesh's assistant for many years.

Ilaiyaraja made the music for one Rajkumar film, Nee Nanna Gellalaare, and Legends features two songs from it -- Anuraga enaaythu and Jeeva hoovagide. Both are notable for their unorthodox tunes and interludes. In the second song, Ilaiyaraja gets Rajkumar to sing on parallel tracks and achieves a warm, fugue-like effect, with the voices beginning at unexpected points and overlapping one another like waves.

Kamal Hasan describes Rajkumar as a pious man for whom work is 'puja'. Rajkumar is a believer, and talks often of spirituality. He has cut albums in praise of several gods. Featured in Legends are songs from his devotional albums. Guruvara bantamma is probably his most popular song on Raghavendra Swami. Harihara sutana is in praise of Ayyappa. Volume 3 is made up songs from private albums, but they sound tame and are no match to the more dramatic film songs he has sung.

There are a few unremarkable songs in this collection, like the title song from Sapthapadi (1992), where he is given a shruti that is too high for his voice. That's a problem in some recent songs -- he gets uncomfortable when he hits the high notes.
Legends is a representative compilation of Rajkumar's work as a singer. It doesn't feature any of his post-1994 songs, but lovers of Kannada film music will still cherish it.

By S R Ramakrishna

[blrboy]

Wow, these articles are very good to read!

[hundredstrings]

I completely agree with what S R Ramakrishna says about P. B. Sreenivos [that's how his name is written]:

Like Mukesh, Srinivas had a certain melancholic heaviness: his voice could handle lighter songs all right, but it excelled in the sad ones.

Though not as obvious as Mukesh, we see a tinge of sadness in most of PBS songs, including the happy and romantic ones!  One glorious example is: "Mounave Abharana Mugulnage Shashikirana".  I think his voice was especially suited for devotional and pensive songs.  Some of his absolute best devotional songs are: "Bombeyaatavayya" [Sri Krishna Garudi], "Narayana Vanamali", all songs from Bhakta Kanakadasa [the movie which gave him a big break in Kannada] and Bhakta Kumbara [may be the best of all Rajkumar's devotional movies].