Rajesh

( Apr 15 1932 - Feb 19 2022 )

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Achievements

Vidyasagar (15 April 1932 – 19 February 2022), known by his stage name Rajesh, was an Indian actor who appeared in Kannada films. Known as 'Kala Thapaswi', Rajesh was an ardent fan of literature. He appeared in many films as the lead in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later on gravitated to strong character roles. He is the father of film actress Aasha Rani who acted in Rathasapthami with Shivrajkumar and the father-in-law of popular Kannada and Tamil actor Arjun Sarja. Rajesh has acted in over 150 films. "Kalathapasvi Rajesh Athmakathe" is the biography of Rajesh. In 2014, he was awarded the Dr. Rajkumar Cultural Endowment Award by the Kannada Sahitya Parishat. He lived in Vidyaranyapura, Bangalore. Rajesh was born as Vidyasagar in Bangalore, India, on 15 April 1932, to a Kannada Kuruba Gowda family. He grew up watching then stars such as Thyagaraja Bhagavatar, Rajakumari and T. R. Mahalingam. He had developed interest in theatre from his childhood and joined Sudarshana Nataka Mandali without his parents' knowledge. In the name of tuition he was going for practice and the first role he got was ‘Sri Rama’. From pamphlets, his parents came to know that he had joined the theatre troupe. Rajesh initially worked as a typist in government offices. He was doing what Chi Udayashanker famous cinema writer was doing in the office. In the ledger books he would keep famous novels and read them. Chi Udayashanker was sent out from office for that. Even Rajesh had faced a similar situation. Later he formed the Shakti Nataka Mandali, staging many popular plays. One fine day he got up from the sleet and started writing a play on unemployment. It was titled ‘Nirudyogi Baalu’. The play he directed later. It got good appreciation. ‘Badavana Baalu’ was his next and it continued like that. Playwright Basheer asked him to act in plays and he was in Visha Sarpa, Nandadeepa, Chandrodaya and Kittur Rani Chennamma. Thackeray role was well received. In ‘Devara Gudi’ he costarred with Vishnuvardhana in an important role. After that he had more hits like Devara Duddu, Badhu Bangaravaythu, Beluvaladha Madilalli, Mugiyadha Kathe in the 1970s and Kaliyuga, Pitamaha and Satyanarayana Pooja Phale in the 1980s. He was of the notion that, in the 1950s onwards Honnappa Bhagavatar, Rajkumar, Udayakumar, Kalyankumar, B.R. Pantulu, K. S. Ashwath, Narasimha Raju, Balakrishna, Iyer, B. Saroja Devi, Leelavathi, Pandari Bai, MV Rajamma, Mynavathi, Vandhana, Kalpana, Jayanthi, Bharathi enriched the film industry. But Rajesh regretted that Kannada films produced in the recent times have lost their credence in the absence of good story and social commitment. The yesteryear star said "Those films had a message for the society besides providing healthy entertainment. But the films that have come after 1980 lack social commitment and are of cheap taste. The technological development and huge money being spent on films have not been used by filmmakers for the good of the society. Rajesh died at a private hospital in Bangalore, on 19 February 2022, at the age of 89. He suffered from breathing complications.

Profession

Indian actor

Address

Bangalore, India