Book on legendary Kannada actor Raj Kumar released

Bangalore, Jun 2 (IANS) A book showcasing life and times of late movie icon Dr. Raj Kumar, who had worked in more than 205 Kannada films and one of the greatest performers on the Indian silver screen, was released Saturday here.

The 727-page book titled "Naa Kanda Appaji" in Kannada, which means 'Appaji in my eyes', was simultaneously released along with its English version 'Dr Raj Kumar - Personality Behind the Person' by his son, the Kannada superstar Puneet Raj Kumar. The book was written by him with the help of his wife Ashwini Puneet and writer Prakruthi Banavasi.

It contains some exclusive, unpublished photographs of the Dada Sahab Phalke Award winner and includes feature articles on the legendry actor, who was also honoured with Padmabhushan. He died in 2006 at the age of 76.

The book contains some exclusive photographs which are spread over seventy percent of the book space while the remaining thirty percent are feature articles, Puneet said.

"The book is multidimensional, which showcases life and times of my father's career, his personal life, his relationship with his fans, and his closeness with many top personalities in the state of Karnataka and outside," he told IANS before the release of the book.

The release function was held at a hotel here at Yeshwantapur. Late Raj Kumar's wife Parvathamma Raj Kumar, his sister Nagamma and his other two sons Shivaraj Kumar and Raghavendra Raj Kumar were present at the ceremony.

Kannada film dignitaries like Tara Anuradha, chairman of Karnataka film academy, also graced the occasion.

"My father was close to many top legendary artists like Shivaji Ganeshan, MGR, NTR, A. Nageshwara Rao and their family members. Some of the photographs in the book are sure to provide glimpses of the great relationship," Puneet said.

At the function, three film and stage personalities were honoured with Dr. Raj Kumar Souhardha Awards. The recipients were playback singer P.B. Sreenivos, stage artist Ranganaayakamma and film director Chi Datturaj.