Puneeth Rajkumar Passes Away: Who was Sandalwood’s Power Star and Son of Dr Rajkumar

Bengaluru, Oct 29: Sandalwood is devastated over the untimely death of Puneeth Rajkumar. He was just 46 and one of the fittest actors in the Kannada film industry.

He was seen together dancing alongside Yash and his brother Shivaraj Kumar at Bhajarangi 2 pre-release event, just two days ago.

Who was Puneeth Rajkumar?
Born on 17 March, 1975, to Sandalwood legend Dr Rajkumar and Parvathamma, acting naturally attracted him at a young age. He started appearing in movies even before he realised that he was facing the camera as he was cast in the film Premada Kanike when he was just one.

At the age of three, Puneeth acted in a role in his father's Sannadi Appanna. Later, he was seen as a child artiste in many films. He won his first State Award for Best Child Actor for Chalisuva Modagalu. His performance in Bhakta Prahalada garnered a lot of appreciation from critics and the audience.

He won Best Child Artist for Bettada Hoovu at the 33rd National Film Awards. During the period, he sang songs like 'Kannige kanuva devaru' and 'Kanadante mayavadanu' which went on to become big hits.

Thereafter, he had taken a break.

In 2002, he was launched as a hero by his home production Vajreshwari Combines with Puri Jagnnadh's Appu. He then worked in the films like Abhi, Veera Kannadiga, Maurya and Milana turned out to be a big hit at the box office.

His Jackie and Hudugaru were equally successful at the box office. The 2017 film Raajakumara remains one of the all-time biggest hits of Sandalwood.

His last film remains Yuvarathnaa. He was working on Chethan Kumar's James and Dvitva.

Apart from acting, he sang a lot of songs and produced movies like Kavaludaari, Maya Bazaar, and French Biriyani to encourage aspiring filmmaker.

The Power Star tried his hand at hosting by anchoring Kannadada Kotyadhipati, the Kannada version of Kaun Banega Crorepati.