Rajkumar was, for one thing, the most popular and prolific movie star Kannada filmdom threw up many years ago. At the height of his career -- in the 1960s and 1970s -- he had no serious competition in Karnataka.
The two other heroes on the horizon then, Srinath and Vishnuvardhan, never reached similar heights of popularity. Vishnuvardhan is still around, as a hero, and has his fan club the Vishnu Sena. Srinath has long since come down to character roles.
But what took Rajkumar from a superstar to a veritable demi-God? Atleast three or four different factors, all of which have to do with the period during which he achieved this status, and the fact that the State was completely devoid of other role models.
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