Parvathamma Rajkumar: The lady who redefined woman power in a male-dominated industry

The

Kannada

film industry lost one of its most influential personalities on May 31, 2017. Parvathamma Rajkumar, aged 77, breathed her last during the early hours of the morning at a hospital in Bengaluru after days of struggle.
Yes, she was the wife of the late legendary actor

Dr Rajkumar

, but that hardly defines the personality she was. As a wife, a mother and as an entrepreneur in an otherwise male-dominated field, here was one woman who stood her ground, and achieved success like no other, for over five decades — no mean feat, that.
She is survived by her three sons actors

Shivarajkumar

, Raghavendra Rajkumar and Puneeth Rajkumar and two daughters Lakshmi and Poornima.
In addition to the role she has played in shaping the careers of her own husband and sons, the industry is indebted to her to have launched many a local talent.

Her journey
Parvathamma was married to Rajkumar when she was just 14. There have been reports that her mother had been reluctant about the alliance as she did not want her daughter to marry an actor who was a part of a travelling theatre company at the time.
Rajkumar made his acting debut in Bedara Kannappa after a year of their marriage. Over the years, he became a name in the industry. While her husband earned fame, Parvathamma was a constant learner. She accompanied him at shoots and rehearsals and learnt all about the profession. She was able to handle the business side of her husband’s career, and that allowed him to concentrate solely on his art.
Parvathamma’s career as a producer took place quite by chance, or rather out of compulsion. In the 70s, there was a time when a few producers complained of having lost money by making films with Rajkumar, who even thought about leaving the industry at that point.
His wife stepped in to produce his film Trimurthi, which turned out to be a hit. Over the years, Parvathamma produced many of her husband’s films that became huge hits – Shankar Guru, Halu Jenu, Kavirathna Kalidasa, Jeevana Chaitra and Akasmika.
She also launched the careers of all her three sons – Shivarajkumar debuted with Anand, Raghavendra Rajkumar debuted with Nanjundi Kalyana and Puneeth Rajkumar debuted with Appu. Over the years, her sons went on to star in many other films under their home banner. Raghavendra, however, moved to managing production along with his mother. In the process, she is known to have encouraged local talent and introduced many of the industry’s successful personalities – Sudha Rani, Asharani, Sarala, Veena, Vidhyasree, Malashri, Padmasri, Mohini, Monisha, Mamathasri, Prema, Shilpa, Anu Prabhakar, Vidya Venkatesh, Srividya, Rakshita and Ramya.

Turmoils
Parvathamma always maintained a strong presence in the industry as a producer. Her business sense proved merit even through her decisions in casting – wherein she put a lot of focus on local talent. At some point, she was not just respected but also feared by those who looked up to her. In public life too, she came across a strong personality, even during difficult times like the abduction of Rajkumar by Veerappan in 2000, and at the time of his death in 2006.