For the first time ever, Amitabh speaks of his special friendship with the icon of Kannada cinema, in a short film directed by Maya Chandra
For the first time ever, Amitabh speaks of his special friendship with the icon of Kannada cinema, in a short film directed by Maya Chandra
Titled Dr Rajkumar-Our Annavaru (big brother), the film, directed Maya Chandra, was shown at SIGNS 2009, a film festival held in Trivandrum in Kerala last week. Amitabh speaks of the special friendship he shared with Dr Raj and describes him as a "phenomenon".u00a0
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Historic meeting: Dr Rajkumar with Amitabh Bachchan in Bangalore File Pic |
"Dr Raj was a simple man, down to earth despite his stature as a great star. He was fond of me. I'm grateful and thankful to him," says Amitabh.u00a0
Describing Dr Raj's screen presence, Big B says, "His personality appeals to the common man. Give him any role, a mythological character, a common man, a modern man... whatever. He had the ability to perform to perfection. He has influenced me a great deal."
Maya Chandra has also spoken to Dr Raj's friends and associates like Tiptur Ramaswamy, Bhagwan, PB Sreenivas, UR Anantha-murthy and Jayanth Kaikini. Her five-member team took two years to put together this unique film and the director plans to take it to every film festival in the world.u00a0 "Dr Raj is such a great individual. He is an ambassador of Karnataka and the state's culture," says Maya.
Family firstIt's also for the first time that Dr Raj's daughters talk about the close bond they shared with their father.
Lakshmi and Poornima, who typically shun publicity of any kind, tell Maya what it meant to have an icon for a father. "He had a great deal of patience with everyone," recalls Lakshmi.u00a0 Dr Raj's wife Parvathamma, and his sons Punith, Shivarajkumar and Raghavendra also share incidents from their life. Dr Raj has a legion of fans and some of them speak of interactions with their idol.
Actor-director Ramesh Aravind, who is the narrator in the film, describes Dr Raj as a social and cultural phenomenon. Snippets from his films like Hannele Chiguridaga (When flowers blossom) are included in the film.u00a0
Just before being released by Veerappan, Dr Raj had reportedly expressed a child-like whim to touch the brigand's moustache! Veerappan, we're told, was taken aback by the super star's request. Such anecdotes also find their way into the film.
Yeh dosti......
>>Amitabh visited the Sabarimala shrine inspired by the Dr Raj's faith in Aiyappa.
>>He acted in Mahaan, a remake of Shankar Guru, a film where Dr Raj played a triple role.
>>He invited Dr Raj to the Miss World pageant, organised by his company ABCL in Bangalore in 1996. But Dr Raj pleaded inability to attend.
