Danced to Rajkumar songs as wedding celebrations began

Actor Vinay Rajkumar’s younger brother Yuva is getting married this weekend. He talks about their growing-up years, foray into film production, and more.

It’s celebration time in our home because my younger brother Yuva Rajkumar, who we fondly call Guru, is getting married to his long-time friend Sridevi. No stranger to our family, Sridevi has been a part of the household for a long time and we are more than comfortable with her. The rituals have already begun in the run-up to the wedding and we are all looking forward to the big day.

Yuva and I are four years apart. We share a close bond and our childhood was most memorable. We lived in my grandfather’s house in Sadashivanagar and it was a joint family. There would be at least half a dozen kids in the house at any point in time. We didn’t go out and play much but we were more than happy playing cricket and football in our huge garden. Interestingly, we had cows, sheep, swans and four dogs in our house. We grew up to love and respect animals. We never missed going out and playing, like other children, because there was so much to do in our home.

We also loved watching WWF as children. Yuva and I, along with our cousins, would try out these stunts (without hurting each other) on the bed. We also spent a lot of time playing video games, much before the PlayStation arrived. Saturday and Sunday mornings we would be out playing cricket at the Poorna Prajna School ground. Sunday mornings were special because my grandfather loved continental food, and Yuva and I would get down to making one. We would buy baked beans, sausages and dish up the most creative and experimental continental breakfast. We would sit under the huge mango tree in our backyard and eat together on Sunday mornings.

Yuva and I went to the same school, but studied in different colleges. We started off in Poorna Prajna Educational Centre, moved to Vidyashilp Academy and completed our high school from Presidency School. We went to different colleges, but we would make it a point to meet after classes. We had common friends and before we realised, our circle grew.

After our education, it was inevitable that we get into film production. While I was keen on becoming an actor, Yuva took over the reins of production. I began my career in the Kannada film industry with ‘Siddhartha’ and my second film ‘Run Antony’ was our home production; it was totally managed by Yuva. He took care of the production, casting and everything to do with it. He got creative on the production front and brought down singers from across the state for that movie. The movie was advertised well and it was screened for a select few IAS officers in Delhi. While film production continues to hold Yuva’s interest, he and Sridevi recently opened the Dr Rajkumar IAS Academy. It has been two years and is doing very well for itself. We have over 1000 applications this year. The idea struck him when he interacted with a few IAS officers in Delhi. They mentioned how students from Karnataka go to Delhi to study and also spoke about the exorbitant costs. That’s when he decided to open this institute here. The fee is nominal. We offer 100 scholarships and provide free education as well.

We have always known Yuva to be chilled out guy but when he started this academy and branched out into a new area, we were proud of him.

Yuva and I have very different interests. I would like to remain an actor because that’s what I enjoy doing the most. I am working on two movies this year-- Gramayana and another project has me in the role of a boxer. Yuva is also set to foray into acting. We don’t believe in planning too much into the future and believe in going with the flow.

Currently, our film production work has been put on hold till the wedding is over. We began early this week with a haldi ceremony which was first held in our native place and will be held at four other family households. We also held a close-knit sangeet ceremony for just the members of the family where we all danced to some old songs of my grandfather.

At a time when my brother is stepping into a new phase of his life, I wish him and Sridevi all happiness.

Vinay Rajkumar (Actor)