The best songs of Rajkumar

Kannada superstar Dr Rajkumar was known for more than just his acting capabilities. He was a very good singer as well. rediff.com takes a look at some of his most popular songs.

 Special: Farewell, Dr Rajkumar

From the film Jeevana Chaitra, it won Rajkumar the National Award for best singer. The film was famous for Rajkumar's performance as well as for the superior quality of songs from music director Upendra Kumar.

From Akasmika, this is considered the best of Rajkumar. It has become so famous that people describe it as the state's anthem! In fact, the film became popular only because of its music and lyrics penned by Hamsalekha, the music director. Rajkumar played the role of a police officer single-handedly taking on the prostitution mafia.

During his days as a struggling actor, Dr Rajkumar sang two songs. When he became a hero with a vast fan following, music director G K Venkatesh forced him to sing a song in the film Sampaththige Savaal. He agreed, reluctantly, because the singer P B Sreenivos wasn't in town at the time. The song became an instant hit.

Rendered by Rajkumar for the film Babruvahana, where he played a double role. He had also sung a song -- Yaaru Thirliyaru Ninna Bhuja Bhalada Parakrma -- with P B Sreenivos, which is still remembered fondly by the people of Karnataka. Hunasooru Krishna Murthy was the lyricist and T G Lingappa, the music director.

Rajkumar sang this duet with Vani Jayaram for the film Naa Ninna Mareyalaare. Rajan Nagendra was the music director, and the film was a super hit.

Sung by Rajkumar and S Janaki in the film Huliya Haalina Mevu. Starring opposite Raj Kumar was Jayaprada.

From Chelisuva Modagalu, the song is famous for its lyrics by Chi. Udayashankar, which speak of the sweetness of Kannada. The language is compared to milk and honey. The music director -- Rajan-Nagendra.

Rendered by Rajkumar for the film Ashwamedha, where he was just a playback singer, not an actor! He later went on to sing many songs in films not produced by his company, for stars like Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh, etc. He would also sing one or two songs for his sons' films and also for films produced by his production company.

This is from the film OM, directed by Upendra, with Rajkumar's son Shivaraj Kumar playing the lead. Both songs sung by Rajkumar became extremely popular. Hamsalekha was the music director.

Rajkumar didn't just render devotional songs for films, but cut many private albums too. All his devotional albums were big hits and have grossed more revenue than many albums of popular films. This was a song rendered by him for the film Bhaagyavantha. His son Puneet Rajkumar was a child artist here, and Rajkumar had played a guest role.

From his last film, Shabdhavedi. The song says: "I came to the limelight because of people and my journey to success belongs to people who have supported me." People identified the song with his own life, and it went on to become very popular.