[108] His movies were praised for showing consistent interest in building a Kannada society and not a Kannada nation as such. The 1986 movie Anuraga Aralithu speaks about the implementation of labour reforms in factory. [101] The 1974 movie Sampathige Savaal speaks subtely about the abolishment of Zamindar system by portraying the rich versus poor in a rural backdrop.[102]. He is the only lead actor to win National Award for singing. She was awarded with a doctorate from Bangalore University. [13], Trained in classical music during his theatre days, Rajkumar also became an accomplished playback singer. On 17 May, she was shifted to the intensive care unit after she had difficulty in breathing and was on assisted ventilation, following which a tracheotomy was performed on her to ease breathing. [38][39][40] The CID 999 Franchise was the first Indian movie franchise to have four installments and CID 999 was the first character based trilogy in India. His movie Ondu Muttina Kathe was reported to be the first ever Indian film to have an underwater action sequence shot in an ocean[49] outside India[50] without the help of oxygen mask. [122], After Rajkumar's eyes were donated as per his last wish, the eye donation in Karnataka was reported to have increased by 400%. His films have been remade more than 50 times in various languages—33 movies have been remade 55 times in 7 languages. In 1995, he received the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his outstanding contributions to the Kannada film industry. Interestingly, it was not Meena Kumari’s feet to which Raaj Kumar had addressed in his famous romantic liner from the film Pakeezah but her body double. Jab jaonga pata bhi nahin chalega (When the time really comes, you won’t know).”  [14]Hindustan Times jQuery("#footnote_plugin_tooltip_8873_14").tooltip({ tip: "#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_8873_14", tipClass: "footnote_tooltip", effect: "fade", fadeOutSpeed: 100, predelay: 400, position: "top right", relative: true, offset: [10, 10] }); I Have not yet done a role I’ve disliked. [9] Rajkumar along with his contemporaries Udaya Kumar and Kalyan Kumar were referred as the Kumara Thrayaru of Kannada cinema. Efforts to revive him failed and he was pronounced dead at 2:05 pm (IST). This page was last edited on 15 October 2020, at 13:42. [63] It went ahead in accordance to the agreement that their fathers made following the latter's birth. For the song Deepavali Deepavali [57] from Muddina Maava, he provided playback to S. P. [142], Girish Kasaravalli had praised his simplicity, humility, innocence and straight-forwardness. Reportedly, he drove the same Plymouth car for more than 40 years and also retained the same staff including his hairdresser, tailor, and driver during the same period. [128], The Hindu had reported that Rajkumar could have swept any poll effortlessly but had decided that the affection and love of the people should not be used to attain power.