Blood and eye donation camps, award presentation programmes and cultural events marked the 86th birth anniversary of Kannada thespian Rajkumar in the City on Thursday.
People had gathered in large numbers at the Raj memorial at Sri Kanteerava Studios to celebrate the birth anniversary. There was also a long queue to donate eyes on the occasion.
Sexual minorities too had gathered in large numbers and were seen waiting eagerly to get an entry into the place where the event was organised. With emotions running high, it was a tough time for the police to keep the crowd under control.
Dr Raj Trust also presented Dr Rajkumar award that carried a purse of Rs 1 lakh and a memento to achievers in the Kannada film industry. Veteran actor M N Lakshmidevi, Sadashiva Brahmavara and Ashwath Narayan were given the award for the year 2013, while Director M S Rajashekar, actor Honnavalli Krishna and others who acted with Rajkumar were given awards for 2014.
Members of the actor’s family including his sons Puneeth Rajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar, along with Parvathamma Rajkumar offered prayers at the late actor’s memorial.
As many as 400 units of blood were collected at the camp organised at the Kanteerava Studio by Indian Red Cross Society.
Also, 35 fans came forward and registered themselves for eye donation.
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