Rashmika Mandanna Remembers Anjaniputra Co-star Puneeth Rajkumar On His 2nd Death Anniversary

Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar, one of the most celebrated names in the film industry, died on October 29, 2021, due to cardiac arrest. He was the youngest of the five children of Dr Rajkumar. Sunday, October 29, was his second death anniversary. His fans and colleagues from the Kannada cinema remembered him on this day.

Pusha actress Rashmika Mandanna shared one of his photographs on her Instagram Stories. She essayed the female lead, Geetha, in the Kannada film Anjaniputra starring Puneeth in the lead role. It was written and directed by Harsha. It was the remake of the Tamil movie Poojai written and directed by Hari. Anjaniputra received mixed to poor reviews from the audience who opined that the film is solely for Puneeth’s followers.

Actor Shiva Rajkumar, Puneeth’s elder brother, had a word with News 18 on Appu’s (Puneeth Rajkumar’s other name) second death anniversary. He said, “Everybody is saying that Appu is no longer there but that doesn’t mean he has left us and gone completely. I don’t feel Puneeth has gone anywhere. He is here with us. I don’t want to send him away so quickly and we will keep him alive with his good memories and the amazing work that he did beyond films because otherwise, our lives will become difficult. We should celebrate rather than say we miss Puneeth.”

Puneeth’s last film before his untimely demise was Lucky Man directed by Nagendra Prasad. This film is currently available on Amazon Prime. Lucky Man is the remake of the Tamil film Oh My Kadavule directed by Ashwath Marimuthu. It received positive reviews from the audience.

Puneeth was 46 at the time of his death. In November 2021, former Karnataka’s Chief Minister Basvaraj Bommai conferred Puneeth with the title of Karnataka Ratna award posthumously. In his career spanning three decades, Puneeth became the recipient of several awards, including one National Film Award, six Filmfare Awards South, four Karnataka State Film Awards and five SIIMA Awards. On the small screen, Puneeth hosted the game show Kannadada Kotyadhipathi. The show was conceptualised on the American game show, ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ He also became the host of Family Power, a reality show on Colors Kannada.