Puneeth Rajkumar tribute: A peek into the actor’s life – Times of India

Sandalwood’s Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar will always be remembered as the gentleman star. His gracious and humble nature is what people have loved him most for. The actor has always been an inspiration for many generations of actors and his love affair with showbiz began right from his his young age.

Puneeth began as a child actor, with his birth name Lohith, in films alongside his father late matinee idol Dr Rajkumar. He then grew up to pursue business, before he returned to his original love, acting. Puneeth’s debut film Appu, a college action love story, was a runaway hit and he arrived as a bonafide star. He followed this up with a quick succession of hits and remained on top.

He also was one of the few stars who always was game to experiment with stories that were different and atypical from the usual commercial genre. This included Prithvi, where he played the role of an upright IAS officer or Paramathma, which had him away from his usual action stunts. He excelled in all roles and gave people memorable performances.

With Raajakumara, he paid a tribute to his father’s most loved film Kasturi Nivasa, which was a big hit with critics, fans and did well at the box office too. He was currently shooting for James and was all set to experiment with yet another interesting script, Dvitva, which was to be helmed by maverick Pawan Kumar.

He also hosted Kannadada Kotiyadhipathi, and emerged as a successful host on the small screen too, with his encouraging and gentle nature.

Puneeth also had emerged the first brand to make a mark on the streaming platforms too with two OTT releases during the lockdown last year. His production house have three more direct OTT films lined up. Puneeth and wife Ashwini personally curate each of the scripts and wanted to encourage newcomers in their production house. He also had launched a successful record label which kickstarted with the superhit music album Tagaru.

Puneeth was also set to try out something new with Gandhada Gudi, an action adventure documentary film that he had collaborated with the makers of Wild Karnataka. The film is ready and the teaser was to be launched on November 1. Puneeth had told Bangalore Times, “This is a film I am personally proud of backing and want viewers to watch on the big screen. I am keen to talk about it once we release the trailer and everyone understands what it is about.”

Puneeth is survived by his wife and two daughters. He also has two brothers and two sisters.