Remembering the power of Puneeth

Legendary actor Lakshmi and Divya Spandana remember Puneeth, the friend, colleague and guide that he was

October 29, 2021. A day which shocked many of us with the sudden death of 46-year-old Puneeth Rajkumar. He leaves behind not just a bereaved family, but thousands of fans, who worshipped him as the “power star”. He was a popular hero and could romance, sing, dance, fight and do his own stunts on screen with great elan. Many of us are mourning him as an actor and son the legendary actor, late Dr Rajkumar. But, there are many (colleagues and film crew ), who have had close associations with Puneeth and have seen him as a “real life hero”. ‘Julie’ Lakshmi and Ramya (Divya Spandana) speak about the man behind the screen. While Ramya made her debut with Puneeth in Abhi, Lakshmi, who co-starred with Dr Raj as a leading lady in many Kannada films, has known Appu since he was a baby. She acted with him as a character artiste in many films. Vamshi was their last collaboration. She describes Puneeth as “the little boy who grew up to be a mega star”. The two talk to about Puneeth, the co-star, son, friend and guide.

He will always be Appu the baby for me. This is so painful and I am not able to come to terms with it. These are moments when we realise our helplessness and the uncertainty of life hits you. We always teach our children to be good, honest, live a healthy lifestyle, exercise and be fit and that all will go well with them. Appu did all that and he is gone. This makes me think about what is good or moderate and what is Karma. I am so angry with Appu, that if I see him now, I will shake him and give him a tight slap for breaking all our hearts. How can he leave us abruptly? Is it a curse that all youngsters are suddenly leaving us — Chiranjeevi Sarja, Sachari Vijay and now Appu?