According to Google doodle team’s post on their blog, “Early drafts of today’s Doodle featured different interpretations of the beloved star’s work. The first illustrates Rajkumar singing and holding the white bird from Kasturi Nivasa, a quintessential Kannada drama and a cornerstone of Rajkumar’s cinematic legacy.

Another Doodle draft showcases an array of iconic characters Rajkumar played over a half century of acting. Ultimately, the Doodle team decided to feature Rajkumar’s larger-than-life personality beaming at a crowd of moviegoers from the silver screen where his legacy lives on for generations of Indian audiences.”

Singanalluru Puttaswamayya Muthuraju (24 April 1929 – 12 April 2006), known mononymously by his stage name Rajkumar, was a kannada actor and singer in the Kannada cinema.

He started his film career in 1954 in the film Bedara Kannapa and went on to star in over 220 movies, his last being Shabdavedhi in 2000.

Widely acclaimed as one of the finest actors in the history of Indian Cinema, he is considered a cultural icon, and holds a matinée idol status in the Kannada diaspora.

Among who, he is popularly adulated as Nata Saarvabhouma (Emperor of Actors), Bangarada Manushya (Man of Gold), Vara Nata (Gifted Actor) and Rajanna (Brother Raj)

On 30 July 2000, Rajkumar, his son-in-law Govindaraju, and two others were abducted by Veerappan from the actor’s palatial house at Gajanur (Erode district of Tamil Nadu). Veerappan demanded the release of his gang members who were being held in jail under a defunct anti-terrorism law. The event prompted a massive manhunt and threw the Karnataka government into crisis. The Supreme Court of India opined that it was “unpardonable” on the part of the government of Tamil Nadu for not providing security to Rajkumar, although they had information a year earlier that he faced a threat of being kidnapped by Veerappan.

A Special Task Force (STF) set up to capture Veerapan had earlier warned Rajkumar against visiting the farmhouse, but his son Raghavendra later acknowledged that his father had not taken the threat seriously.

After a total of 108 days in captivity, Rajkumar was released unharmed on 15 November 2000 due to mediation of Gopal Editor of Tamil weekly Nakkeran that defused the crisis between Tamilnadu and Karnataka states in India

The legendary actor is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan (in 1983)

Dadasaheb Phalke Award (in 1995) for the lifetime contribution to Indian Cinema.

The actor died of cardiac arrest at his residence in Bangalore on April 12, 2006 at the age of 77.