Strapline- In the early 1980s, Rajkumar was at the pinnacle of his career and commanded a massive legion of fans that rivalled any politician of that period.
Caption- Rajkumar died on April 12, 2006, due to a heart attack.
Kannada star Shivarajkumar is currently hitting the headlines by campaigning for his wife, Geetha Shivarajkumar, who is going to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Shivamogga seat. Earlier, his father, the late actor Rajkumar, was also expected to join politics but he didn’t. Now, Shivarajkumar has shed light on this topic in an interview with a portal.
The Om actor said that Rajkumar wanted to join the politics and never termed it wrong. In the early 1980s, Rajkumar was at the pinnacle of his career and commanded a massive legion of fans that rivalled any politician of that period. He was under extreme pressure to follow the model of his friends and superstars in neighbouring states- MGR in Tamil Nadu and NTR in Andhra Pradesh.
The Shankar Guru actor, however, withstood the pressure and declined the opportunity to join politics, saying he is above party politics and his followers are from all walks of life, as revealed by his actor son. Later, the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi also tried to rope him in, but in vain.
Why did Rajkumar not join the politics? His son and actor Raghavendra Rajkumar talked about this in an earlier interview with the Bangalore Mirror. Raghavendra revealed the late Kannada stalwart had said, “If the intention behind asking me to contest was that I could make a positive contribution in politics, I could have considered contesting. But the purpose of seeking me was to use me as a weapon. When I was asked to join the Gokak movement (which he did five years after the 1978 election), I was glad to participate. My participation was necessary and I could make a positive contribution. But for that election, I was a necessity. I was only required to defeat someone. Was I right in not contesting?”
Fondly known as the Kannada megastar, Rajkumar entertained the audience with his acting prowess in over 200 films. He decided to retire from acting after suffering from a mild heart attack and died on April 12, 2006, due to a heart attack. He last played the role of Inspector Sandeep in the film Shabdavedi released on February 10, 2000.
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