BILLBOARD
MAKING WAVES
SHORT TAKES
SOUTHERN SPICE
REVIEWS
ROUGH CUTS
MEMORIES
ARCHIVES
MOVIES CHAT

Shivanna rules!

M D Riti

Shivraj Kumar. Click for bigger pic!

You can easily mistake him for one of his own fans. It's difficult to spot popular Kannada film star Shivraj Kumar amidst the group of enthusiastic young men standing on the short driveway of the huge mansion in Sadashivanagar, the poshest residential locality of Bangalore.

Then, you notice that the man right in the middle, with his arms around the shoulders of two others, looks as if he has just gotten out of bed, while the others are obviously dressed in their Sunday best.

"Please just give me a few minutes," he says in perfect English, smiling easily, while his fans glower balefully, resentful of any intrusion into their time with their hero. A short while later, he strolls into the plush living room of the huge house in which he lives with his wife Geetha, the second daughter of Congress politician S Bangarappa, and their two young schoolgoing daughters Nishkala and Nivedita.

Just behind his house, sharing a wall in common, is the family home of his actor father Dr Rajkumar, and his two brothers, film star Raghavendra and film producer Puneet. Shivraj, who spent the entire previous day shooting, and dashing off in between to watch the shooting of his father's comeback Kannada film Shabdavedi.

Dressed in navy blue track suit pants with an elegant stripe running down the side, a red and white sleeveless banian with an extraordinarily deep neck and a scarlet jacket, Shivraj sips hot, sweet tea, in an obvious attempt to rouse himself. He's just awakened from a deep sleep after a hard week of work.

Shivraj Kumar the star is no different from Shivanna the man. On the sets, you always see him chatting with technicians, whom he seems to know by name, between shots, unlike an actor like, say Anant Nag, who is more likely to be reading Time or Newsweek all by himself. An almost boyish naivete that seems to be his trademark comes across at all times, even though Shivraj is now in his mid-thirties and has made 50 films in a career spanning a dozen years.

Shivraj spoke to M D Riti about his boyhood in Madras, where he lived for several years, his 13 years in Kannada cinema, his marriage, his favourite plans and his dream to direct a film featuring his father next year....

How was it growing up as Rajakumar's son?

I always like to see the straight, never from a height or from a depth. I like to see everyone eye-to-eye. Until I reached high school, I used to get lunch in a tiffin carrier. After that, I used to go by bus to college and was given a budget of Rs 2 for lunch every day! My parents took great pains to ensure that I had the right values, and knew the true worth of money. I used to have friends from all classes of society, right from the auto drivers to the sons of businessmen.

I used to be the ultimate Kamalahaasan fan -- I still am. I hope I get the opportunity to work with him in a film some day -- I was always at the theatre on the first day for the very first show of every Kamalahaasan release. I think the man is one of the greatest actors alive, and watching his movies was one of the nicest things I remember about my boyhood in Madras.

Besides, as it was in Karnataka that my father was such a celebrity, not in Madras, we never had a star family status in Madras. That, in retrospect, was the best thing that could have happened to me. I try to ensure that my two daughters also grow up like normal children, which is not too difficult since my star image is nowhere near that of my father.

How was it following your father into cinema?

Being Rajkumar's son has always been a great help to me, in the sense that I had the opportunity to observe a man who is a legend in his own time at close quarters. He has been a great source of inspiration not just for me but for my whole generation of actors. However, I have been very careful to ensure that I evolve my own style of acting that is completely different from him.

Click for bigger pic!

It is not wrong to imitate Rajkumar, because he is an institution in himself. But if you imitate someone, it should be a good imitation, not so bad that you are insulting the man you are imitating. However, I have tried to earn the reputation of following in my father's footsteps in my style of work.

For example, like him, I am known to be punctual, quite diligent, lacking in airs and graces, being able to get along well with everyone on the sets from the technicians to the director, never eating my meal in solitary air-conditioned splendour, but being a part of the crew and the group.

How did you get about marrying Geetha?

Soon after I graduated from the film institute, I got my first Kannada film offer, for the film Anand, and decided to come down to Bangalore to take it up. When I came down, my parents suggested to me that I should marry Geetha, the daughter of a family friend. She was a very nice person. I met her, liked very much and married her, and am very glad that I did.

What were his most memorable films over the years?

My first film Anand and my last, AK-47, occupy very special places in my heart. In between, I cannot forget Om, which cast me in the negative role of a rowdy who eventually reforms. There was Nammoora Mandara Hoove, a very different kind of love story in which my best friend and I are in love with the same girl. Then there was the village story Janmada Jodi, in which I play an innocent girl's lover who continues to be her lover after she is married off against her wish to another man.

My own favourite character was the one I played in Modada Mareyalli, a film that shows you how an ordinary young man can be pushed into becoming a goon.

Are you getting stereotyped as an angry, violent young man?

I don't think I am in any danger of getting stereotyped in any manner. Out of my 50 films, I have done remakes, original screenplays, novels, negative roles, dual roles, love stories, family films, everything...

There might have been a spate of films with similar roles at various points, but that was just accidental or coincidental. And when you have the same kind of roles, your acting style cannot vary too much from one to the other. But there has always been enough variety.

Look at my forthcoming films: I play a boxer in Vishwa, which is a remake of Ghayal, and a college student in the romance Hrudaya Hrudayaa. Then, there is Indra Danush directed by V Manohar, which is completely different. Plus, I have Hagalu Vesha, a pre-Independence film that again casts me in a very different mould.

Do many of your films subtly glorify violence even as they preach non-violence?

Yes, that's true. But day-to-day living is full of contradictions like this. Anyway, everything is relative. Good is relative to bad, violence is relative to non-violence. And a hero becomes a hero because he is set off against a villain. Often, good people are forced to turn to violence.

Our prisons are full of people who committed acts of violence that they should not have. There is goondaism and rowdyism in all our cities. People sustain goons by paying them to hit people or break their bones. Films just show violent acts, that's all.

The decision to use or not use violence to solve a problem is a very personal one. I don't think films can influence people either way on this issue. Look at all the art films that have portrayed the problems of society and shown solutions to them. Have the viewers really benefited from them? I think its better we accept that we are just in the entertainment business, that is all. We show make believe violence in films, we shoot or hit our characters and show blood all around, but everyone knows it is not real.

Click for bigger pic!

There are rare occasions when cinema can actually bring about social reform, like the case of the film Jeevana Chaitra starring my father, in which my father campaigned against alcoholism. Entire villages turned against liquor after seeing it. Only a giant like my father can pull off something like that, not a relative newcomer to this field like me. After that film, when my father agreed in real life to open a distillery, there was such a public outcry that he backed out.

Do you think big budget films are here to stay in Kannada cinema?

There are very few producers who are capable of making good, big budget films in Karnataka. I can count them on my fingers -- V Ramu, V Ravichandran, the actor-film maker, Karnataka Film Chamber president K C N Chandrashekar, Upendra, action film maker Rockline Venkatesh and our own home [the Rajkumar family] banner, Vajreshwari Combines.

It's not hard to spend money on a film, but to get the maximum mileage out of the money spent takes a certain talent. You cannot blame producers for opting for low budget, quick films or say their miserliness was responsible for their films flopping. The subject of a film also determines how much money you spend on it. If it's an ordinary village subject, then there is no point throwing your money into it or using DTS sound. But I think this trend might now come in.

Do you plan to return to the theatre?

I had planned to stage a play this year, but I could not do it because I could not put together a proper group. I am a graduate of the Film Institute of Madras, you know, and we used to try various acting styles on stage then. All that stopped after I came to Bangalore, as I got too busy with my film career. But next year, I am positively going to stage a play.

But will you venture into playback singing too?

If a song appeals to me, as one did in Janmada Jodi, I might ask if I could sing it. But not otherwise. I am not interested in singing for myself all the time. I have enough to do with my time already.

Do you find time for your family in your schedule?

I try to work from 9 am to 6 pm every day, and keep the evenings free for my family. I take my wife out, play with or generally spend time with my two daughters. I do sometimes work night shifts, but try to limit them.

What next, after 50 films?

I want to direct a film with my father. I have already made up a storyline for it, which is very different from the kind of films that my father usually acts in. I want to change the image of Rajkumar in people's minds with this film. There can be a positive and negative approach to the same person. Society shapes people into what they become. I cannot disclose more than that at the moment.

Perhaps I can interest him in this project after he completes the two film projects he is currently involved with, Shabdavedi and Bhakta Ambareesha. I hope he will accept once I've told him the story. I haven't done that yet.

Originally, I had planned to direct another film I'd conceptualised since my father had taken a break from acting. But now that he is back on the sets, I thought I'd make the film with him my debut in direction. However, I will continue acting as usual now.