P.B. Sreenivas had a golden voice, rich and full. S.P. Balasubra-manyam’s ever-youthful voice is bestowed with a fantastic range. Jagjit Singh had a soothing, truthful voice that had a limited repertoire. Ghulam Ali’s musicianship is so brilliant that the not-so-great quality of his voice hardly matters. Mehdi Hasan’s quiet intensity is haunting. Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar are song gods, when they sang it felt that the song was born for them. Dr. Rajkumar, Kannada’s iconic actor, who later in his film career doubled as singer, was apart from all these singers who lit our souls. As the state celebrates Rajkumar's 87th birth anniversary, this unusual singer lingers on in our memory for various reasons, most importantly the simplicity and musical innocence with which he rendered his songs.
Primarily an actor, Rajkumar began his career in the Gubbi theatre company. Most actors in the Company days were trained in music and were expected to sing as they played out their roles. Music was such a large component of drama that most companies in fact, employed musicians who also ‘acted’. Rajkumar – who early in his life joined the company -- was groomed in this tradition. Trained under teachers like Prabhuswamy and Krishna Shastri, Rajkumar’s theatrical voice gained musical orientation as well. Music was always part of his role in the theatre years and thereby largely an extension of his actor persona. Becoming a playback singer was accidental in Rajkumar’s career. He did sing for the film Mahishashura Mardhini , “Tumbitu Manava Tanditu Sukhava”, but it went unrecognised. The song that launched his career was “Yaare Koogadali” for Sampatthige Saval (1974). P.B. Sreenivos could not turn up for the recording, Rajkumar pitched in and since then sang for almost all the films he acted in. The actor, regarded highly for his versatility and Kannada diction, became extremely popular as a singer and was appreciated for clarity of lyrics, emotive content, and purity of the note. Rajkumar was not just popular with his huge fan following, but also with music composers. Rajkumar, as his friends and contemporaries recall, was such a thorough professional that he meticulously prepared for each of his song recordings.
From the manner in which Rajkumar renders his songs, it is clear that he had training and exposure to the Carnatic idiom. But clearly he was a product of his times, and couldn’t escape what was blowing in the wind. Hindi film music was at its peak, and it was also the heyday of the ghazal. Theatre companies were themselves trying to grapple with the popular, and hence there was the influence of more than one culture even in their journeys. The Kannada film industry itself had composers who brought with them different sensibilities. Hence to look at Rajkumar’s renditions from a ‘raga’ prism or to fit him into a ‘system’ of music, would perhaps be an incomplete reading of the actor’s music. Rajkumar, in a very liberating sense, was a singer who could operate in a range of styles, but in a naïve sort of way.
Let’s take the song “Manikya veena” from the film Kavirathna Kalidasa or “Yaaru tiliyaru ninna bhujabalada parakrama” from Babruvahana . The former is set in the Carnatic style, and Rajkumar in this fantastic rendition adheres to the idiom, but doesn’t try anything nuanced. The latter, a kanda padya (a prose poem) relies heavily on the gamaka form. Both these songs have been perceived in the dialogic form; and one realises as one begins to read most of Rajkumar’s songs, that he approaches music through mimetics. The highs and lows, the intonation, the emphasis everything is in the style of the spoken word, the inflections remain musical. In fact, from the way P.B. Sreenivos counters Rajkumar in “Yaaru tiliyaru…” the stark difference in approaches is clear.
Kannada short story writer and lyricist Jayant Kaikini says Rajkumar is his all-time favourite. “The variety and intensity that he has managed as an actor remains unmatched world over. Can you imagine Brando, Al Pacino, Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan playing Sarvajna, Kanakadasa, Pulikeshi, Raghavendra Swamy, mythological characters, emme tammanna … capturing several layers of cultural ethos?” His music was “simple and pure” says Jayant. “It was about rendering lyrics musically. He had a rare abhivyakti in his singing. Singing was like talking for him, with all the musical accompaniments,” he explains.
Most of Rajkumar’s songs work within the framework of theatricality. Perhaps one of the most innovative songs, “Bisi bisi kajjaya” from Haavina Hede also serves as a good example. The song is composed in Carnatic style and visualised with Bharatanatyam steps for a fight sequence which Rajkumar performs with great style and élan. His enjoyment as an actor can be felt even in his rendition of the song. Rajkumar is perhaps the only playback singer who peppers his songs with the maximum number of reactions – ‘Oho’, ‘Haaga…?’ ‘Houda?!’, stemming from his actor-singer position.
Similar to his journey as an actor, Rajkumar has sung an amazing variety of songs – from devotional to romantic to qawwalli, he has done it all. In “Naaninna aase kande”, a song from Ravichandra , Rajkumar sings a qawwalli, like the song “Naariya seere kadda” that comes in the disguise of devotional song. Among his best are “Jeeva Hoovagide”, “Anuraga Enaytu”, “O Premada Gangeye Ilidu Baa” which he sings with amazing restraint. How can one forget “Gelathi Baaradu Inta Samaya”, “Kanneera Dhaare”, influenced by the ghazal traditions? “Love me or hate me”, “Mary Mary Mary” amuse the listener endlessly coming from this true blue Kannada actor, but Rajkumar ‘plays’ his part. The actor in Rajkumar was never passive in any of his songs. In the song “Rajadhiraja” Rajkumar infuses sarcasm and double entendre into the lines “more entha chanda meese entha chanda” so well, that a superior singer like S. Janaki pales in comparison. The texture of the song “Kogile Haadide Kelideya” changes completely with Rajkumar’s entry into the song.
Rajkumar was a rare artiste that Kannada saw. He acted in a variety of films, played a range of roles, sang songs of many genres, and perceptively turned all his weaknesses as a singer into strengths. This he did purely out of his passion and commitment for the medium.
The songs Rajkumar sang are not musical masterpieces, but they stir you with their simplicity and feeling.
