Despite being in the midst of glitter and glamour, Kannada icon Rajkumar never succumbed to its false charm. Believing that mental and physical fitness is the core of an artiste’s life, he took to yoga and pranayama.
In 1979, Rajkumar was in a despairing mood and was suffering from severe backache. At this juncture, it was H.F. Naikar, who initiated the actor to yoga and helped Rajkumar regain his mental and physical strengths. Once bitten by the yoga bug, the actor used to get up at 4.30 a.m. every day and practise for nearly an hour.
During the training, as Rajkumar had himself said, he had glimpses of various facets of the art of Hata Yoga. “Yoga has changed the outlook of my life. One must be fortunate enough to learn yoga and enjoy its benefits,” the late actor had said.
His yoga performances can be seen in the film Kamanabillu .
Rajkumar did not give up yoga even when he was held captive by forest brigand Veerappan and this helped him in maintaining physical and mental balance during those days.
