Rajesh: A master at handling complex roles

Rajesh, who passed away on Saturday, was one of Kannada cinema’s gifted performers. Despite being in the era of superstars such as Dr Rajkumar, Udaykumar, and Kalyan Kumar, Rajesh held his own with his unique acting skills. By giving life to several interesting roles, he brought a sense of respect to the job of a supporting character.

Rajesh was born as Munichowdappa on April 15, 1932, in Bengaluru. He was drawn to theatre. A young Rajesh wanted to emulate Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, one of the most successful actors of Tamil cinema. Unfortunately, his family wasn’t too keen on his ambitions of becoming an actor.

He performed at the Sudarshan Drama Group without his parent’s knowledge and became popular for his portrayal of Lord Rama. Fearing that his family members would find out about his theatre activities, he changed his stage name to Vidyasagar.

After his education, Rajesh balanced theatre with his typing job in several government offices. He even formed Shakthi Drama Group.

Impressed with one of his performances, Hunsur Krishnamurthy offered him a small role in ‘Veera Sankalpa’ (1964). This marked Rajesh’s debut in cinema. He also featured in MS Nayak’s ‘Sri Ramanjaneya Yuddha’ (1963) as Bharatha from the ancient epic Ramayana. These two films brought Rajesh accolades. Juggling between work and acting cost him Rajkumar’s ‘Jeevana Tharanga’ (1963).

Rajesh got his break as a lead with CV Shivashankar’s ‘Namma Ooru’ (1968). Incidentally, the film’s heroine Krishnakumari questioned the director why actor Ramesh, who was supposed to play the hero, was replaced. “It doesn’t matter if the hero is Ramesh or Rajesh. The film’s story must be good,” he had told her. This conversation convinced the actor to change his screen name to Rajesh.

‘Namma Ooru’ became a hit. The song ‘Hogadiri Soodarare’ is an evergreen number. Despite the film’s success, the industry didn’t see Rajesh as a hero. He shared screen space with the protagonist in ‘Suvarna Bhoomi’ (1968), ‘Broker Bheeshmachari’ (1969), ‘Kappu Bilupu’ (1969), ‘Eradu Mukha’ (1969), and many others.

He excelled in challenging roles in BR Panthulu’s ‘Ondu Hennina Kathe’ (1972), ‘Mugiyade Kathe’ (1976), ‘Devara Duddu’ (1976) and ‘Maya Manushya’ (1976). Such was his calibre that he stood out despite the presence of lead actors Dr Vishnuvardhan and Manjula in ‘Sose Tanda Souwbhagya’ (1977). Director AV Sheshagiri Rao gave Rajesh the hit song ‘Ravivamana Kunchada Kale’.

At the launch of his autobiography ‘Kala Thapavasvi Rajesh’, the actor said he believed films must reflect life values. TS Naghabarana's 'Vasundhara' (2014) marked the 50th year of Rajesh in the industry. His last film is the MG Srinivas-directorial 'Old Monk', set to release on February 25. His demise is a big loss to the Kannada film industry.

(The author is a senior film historian).