Dr Rajkumar was considered one of the greatest actors of his time. He was fondly called Annavru (Big Brother in Kannada) by fans from the Kannada-speaking diaspora. Today, April 12 marks his 18th death anniversary. He died at the age of 77 on April 12, 2006, due to a heart attack. Coincidentally, the late actor was born in April as well (April 24, 1928) in Gajanur and brought up in an impoverished family. He made his debut with the film Bedara Kannappa and soon, there was no turning back from him. He went on to prove his acting mettle with films like Satya Harishchandra, Kasturi Nivasa, Bangarada Manushya. As per the records of Kannada cinema, the movie Bangarada Manushya is the highest-grossing in the industry to date. This film directed by Siddalingaiah was released on March 31, 1972, and it was screened for more than 2 years in one theatre and screened in more than 5 theatres for a year. Bangarada Manushya, a social drama mega-hit film was based on TK Rama Rao’s novel, encouraging people to take up agriculture.
At the age of 24, Dr Rajkumar married his 14-year-old cousin, Parvathamma Rajkumar, on June 25, 1953, in Nanjangud.] Together, they embraced parenthood with five children: sons Shiva Rajkumar, Raghavendra Rajkumar, and Puneeth Rajkumar and daughters Lakshmi Govindaraj and Poornima Puttaswamayya.
Amidst these professional and personal achievements, Dr Rajkumar also faced one of the most traumatic incidents of his life when he was kidnapped by Veerapan. One of India’s most-wanted criminals, forest brigand Veerapan abducted Dr Rajkumar and three of his associates on a Sunday night on July 30, 2000 in Tamil Nadu’s Gajanur. Dr Rajkumar’s hometown Gajanur lies on the fringes of the thick MM Hills forests on the Tamil Nadu side of the border with Karnataka. He was attending the housewarming ceremony of his newly built bungalow when Veerappan struck at 9.30 pm, fully armed and accompanied by 12 henchmen. Though 20 people were working at the farm and 15 others with the film star, the sight of Veerappan scared them into inaction, Rajukumar’s wife Parvathamma said at the time.
Rajkumar, then 72 years old, was with the bandit for 108 days but remained unharmed. After his release on November 15, 2000, Rajkumar said that Veerappan treated him with “respect”.
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