Shivarajkumar, Raghavendra moved to tears at late brother Puneeth Rajkumar's James pre-release event

Puneeth Rajkumar's last film, James, is all set to release on March 17. At the pre-release event, his elder brothers, Shivarajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar, were moved to tears while remembering Puneeth.

Late Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar's last film, James, is all set to release in theatres on his first birth anniversary, March 17. The pre-release event of James was held recently in Bengaluru. Puneeth's brothers, Shivarajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar, along with the family, attended the pre-release event. They were moved to tears while talking about their younger brother, Puneeth Rajkumar.

James was the last film Puneeth Rajkumar shot before he passed away in October 2021. He suffered a massive heart attack on October 29, 2021, and breathed his last at a hospital in Bengaluru. He was 46 years old.

At the pre-release event of James, Puneeth's brother Raghavendra said, "See how he [God] stopped a perfectly running vehicle. Look at me, I am still limping around here. And it upsets me. I suffered a heart-attack, had a stroke and I have a pacemaker fitted. And still, I am alive. I will go look for him [Puneeth]. I will go where he’s. I can’t tolerate it anymore, I am ready to leave.”

After hearing Raghavendra's emotional speech, Shivarajkumar [the eldest of the three\ broke down to tears. He said, "It pains to see Raghu (Raghavendra) speak like this. Because they are all younger than me and I have to see Ragu (suffering like that), Appu leaving us. Imagine how I must be feeling among all these things. I smile, go to shoot and do dubbing, but I am hurting inside. We have celebrated Appu in our family a lot. He was everyone’s pet. I never even thought that a time would like this come. I wish our parents stayed with us for 100 years. But, they left us. Along with them, the younger one left us too. It’s very painful."

Before Puneeth Rajkumar passed away, he had completed shooting the film. However, he hadn't dubbed his portions. Director Chethan Kumar roped in Shivarajkumar to dub for his little brother, Puneeth.

Speaking at the event, Shivarajkumar said, "It’s not easy to dub for another artist. Especially, it was very challenging to dub for Appu. I have done a small part in this film. For the last 4-5 years, we had discussed the idea of acting in a film together. We had even heard a couple of scripts but it never materialised."

James is an action entertainer, directed by Chethan Kumar. Produced by Kishore Pathikonda, the film will release on Puneeth Rajkumar's birth anniversary, March 17.