Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar, who died of a heart attack in October last year, will star posthumously in James, an action drama. However, due to his sudden demise, the dubbing for the film, which was supposed to be done by the late actor, is now being done by his elder brother Shiva Rajkumar. Although most of the post-production process was wrapped, it was only Puneeth’s dubbing that remained. After much deliberations, Shiva Rajkumar was chosen to lend his voice and dub for his younger brother.
Describing his experience of dubbing for his late brother’s film, Shiva Rajkumar shared how he found it hard to dub for Puneeth in James. According to Asianet, Shiva Rajkumar said during the media interaction, “I tried to dub for a few scenes, but it is emotionally hard for me to watch him while doing so. I am trying to dub for him, but I need to see how it will turn out and whether people will accept it.”
Shiva Rajkumar also revealed the first look of Puneeth, who is fondly called Appu, from the upcoming movie James on Republic Day. Sharing the poster on Twitter, Shiva Rajkumar tweeted, “Appu as James.. Happy Republic Day to all.” The poster shows Puneeth dressed as an Army officer ready for combat.
James is written and directed by Chethan Kumar. The movie also stars Priya Anand, Srikanth Meka and Anu Prabhakar in pivotal roles. The movie is scheduled to release in March this year. Shiva Rajkumar and his elder brother Raghavendra Rajkumar will also be seen in cameo roles in the movie. Fans are super excited to witness the much-awaited dream of watching the Rajkumar brothers together on the big screen.
According to news agency PTI, the film is set to release on March 17, which will also mark Puneeth’s 47th birth anniversary. The Kannada star was last seen in action-thriller Yuvaratna, which came out in April 2021. Known as a power star in the Kannada cinema industry, Puneeth died of a heart attack last year.
