Dr Rajkumar Biography

Popularly known as Annavaru, Dr Rajkumar is a legend in the history of Kannad Cinema. His career spanned across 5 decades in which he had acted in more than 200 movies. His acting skills earned him numerous awards, which included the Padma Bhushan, Dada Saheb Phalke Award and Karnataka Ratna Award. Rajkumar was also a noted singer and had even won a National Award for Singing. A stalwart in his own right, Dr Rajkumar is idolized by millions of fans even today.

Dr Rajkumar was born on 24th April, 1929 in Gajanur, a small village in Tamil Nadu. His official name was Singanalluru Puttaswamayya Muthuraju and only came to be known as Rajkumar after joining films. His father, Puttuswami, was a famous Kannad dramatist. Dr Rajkumar was married to Parvathamma and had 5 children. He has three sons, Shiva Rajkumar, Ragavendra Rajkumar and Punith Rajkumar, and two daughters, Lakshmi and Poornima.

Rajkumar began his career as a dramatist in his father's troupe. He learned acting and singing from Gubbi Veeranna, the leader of the troupe. His portrayal of Arjuna on the stage earned him lots of accolades.

Rajkumar got his first break in the film industry in 1954 when he was offered the lead role in the movie Bedara Kannapa. HLM Simha directed the movie and it was who had rechristened him as Rajkumar, which means The Prince. A versatile actor, Rajkumar played different roles with utmost ease. Whether it was comedy, action, modern issues or mythological movie, this stalwart of Kannad cinema performed it brilliantly.

Rajkumar had worked with some of the top directors of Kannad film industry like BR Pantulu, Puttanna Kanagal, Shankar Nag and Nagabharana. Although Rajkumar had received offers from the other film industries he never ventured out of Kannad cinema. In total, Rajkumar had acted in a leading role in 206 movies. Besides these he had also made guest appearances in many other films. Throughout his acting career, Rajkumar had acted with all the leading ladies of Kannad film industry. Some of them are Leelavathi, Bharati, Jayanti Arati, Pandaribai, Jayaprada, Sarita, Geetha and Madhavi.

Rajkumar also owned a production company and produced a number of films. Two of his most acclaimed performances, Kaviratna Kalidasa and Shankar-Guru, were his own productions. Some of his other famous films are Bangarada Manushya, Sri Krishnadevaraya, Jeevana Chaitra, Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma, Apoorva Sangama, Bhakta Prahalada, Kastoori Nivasa, Premada Kanike, Daari Tappida Maga Kula Gowrava, Sampathige Sawal, Akasmika and Gandhada Gudi. The last film in which he acted was Shabdhavedi, in which he acted opposite noted actress Jayaprada.



Awards won by Dr Rajkumar

Rajkumar had won innumerable awards in his lifetime. The Government of India had awarded him the Padma Bhushan in 1983 and the Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1995 for his contribution towards Kannad cinema. The Karnataka Government conferred upon him the title of Karnataka Ratna in 1993. Rajkumar also became the first actor to receive a doctorate, when he received the degree from Mysore University in 1973. In 1985, he also received the Kentucky Colonel Award from the then Governor of Kentucky. Rajkumar also won 10 Filmfare Awards and 9 state awards.

On 30th July, 200, Rajkumar, along with his son-in-law and two others, was kidnapped by the dreaded terrorist Veerappan from his farmhouse at Gajanur. After spending 108 days in captivity, he was finally released on 15th November, 2000. However, it is still not clear whether the demands made for his release were met or not.

Dr Rajkumar breathed his last on 12th April, 2006 at the MS Ramaiah Hospital in Bangalore. His last rites were performed at the Kanteerava Studios in Bangalore on 13th April, 2006.

Facts about Rajkumar




Names Rajkumar
Full Name Singanalluru Puttaswamayya Muthuraju
Nick Name Annavru
Date of Birth 24 April 1929
Birth Place Gajanur, Karnataka, India
Zodiac sign Taurus
Height 5 ft 7 inc (170 cm)
Nationality Indian
Profession Actor, Singer
Father's Name Singanalluru Puttaswamayya
Mother's name Lakshmamma
Marital status Parvathamma Rajkumar
Residence Address  
Hometown Bangalore, India [July 2005]
Education Rajkumar dropped out of school at the age of 8 after having been discovered by a movie producer, and played minor characters until he was 25 when he played his first lead role. Originally, he was named Mutturajar after the Lord Muthathi Raya, which is a temple deity located in Muttatti of Malavalli Taluk, Mandya district, Karnataka
Debut Film  
Twitter Handle



  Related Links  

Bollywood Actors
Aamir Khan Jimmy Shergill
Abhishek Bachchan Jitendra Rajendra Nath
Ajay Devgan John Abraham Rajesh Khanna
Akshay Kumar Johnny Walker Dr Rajkumar
Akshaye Khanna Kader Khan Rajnikant
Amitabh Bachchan Kumar Gaurav Randhir Kapoor
Anil Kapoor Kundan Lal Saigal Ritesh Deshmukh
Ashutosh Rana Mahesh Manjrekar Saif Ali Khan
Bobby Deol Manoj Bajpai Salman Khan
Chandrachur Singh Mehmood Sanjay Dutt
Dilip Kumar Milind Soman Shah Rukh Khan
Dino Morea Naseeruddin Shah Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Fardeen Khan Om Puri Shammi Kapoor
Farhan Akhtar Prithviraj Kapoor Sunil Shetty
Hrithik Roshan Rahul Khanna Sunny Deol
Jackie Shroff Raj Babbar Tusshar Kapoor
Jagdeep Raj Kapoor Shahid Kapoor
Bollywood Actresses
Aditi Govitrikar Karishma Kapoor Raveena Tandon
Aishwarya Rai Katrina Kaif Rekha Ganesan
Amisha Patel Kim Sharma Rimi Sen
Amrita Arora Lalita Pawar Rinkie Khanna
Amrita Rao Lisa Ray Riya Sen
Antara Mali Madhuri Dixit Sameera Reddy
Ayesha Takia Mahima Choudhary Shabana Azmi
Babita Malaika Arora Shamita Shetty
Bipasha Basu Mallika Sherawat Sharmila Tagore
Celina Jaitley Manisha Koirala Shashikala
Dimple Kapadia Meghna Reddy Smita Patil
Diya Mirza Namrata Shirodkar Soha Ali Khan
Esha Deol Nandita Das Sonali Bendre
Gracy Singh Neha Dhupia Sonali Kulkarni
Hema Malini Pooja Bedi Suchitra Sen
Isha Koppikar Pooja Bhatt Sushmita Sen
Jaya Bachchan Preeti Jhangiani Tabu
Juhi Chawla Preity Zinta Tara Sharma
Kajol Priyanka Chopra Zohra Sehgal
Kareena Kapoor Deepika Padukone  
Film Director and Film Maker
Deepa Mehta Mahesh Bhatt Yash Chopra
Satyajit Ray  
Television
Ekta Kapoor Jaspal Bhatti  
Telugu cinema
Chiranjeevi Nagarjuna  
Tamil cinema
Ilaiyaraaja Prabhu Ganesan  
Malayalam cinema
Mammootty