Late Kannada Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar’s last film James had a posthumous release on Thursday, March 17. Today also happens to be his birth anniversary. Several theatres in Karantaka erupted in celebrations as the star’s fans were excited to see him on the screen. Although the news of his death has left a huge void in his fans’ hearts, they couldn’t stop themselves from cheering when they saw Appu on screen. Confettis were thrown around and the audiences refused to sit, as a tribute to the late actor.
On his 47th birthday, 47 auto rickshaws paraded in Avanvagera.
Karnataka’s Davanagere movie theatre also saw a full house at the 6 am show. Fans can be seen celebrating in almost all corners of the state despite Section 144 being imposed in several places. Moreover, 32 shows of James were screened in Rockline Mall, Bengaluru.
Puneeth Rajkumar had asked his fans not to waste milk on his poster cut-outs as showering milk over an idol is considered to be auspicious. His fans kept his request and avoided that they have planned to shower flowers.
Coming to the film, Puneeth plays Santhosh, a security agent who takes leadership of a squad to take down a mafia operation. In the teaser, he is introduced as someone who is known for his instincts and intuitions. An exchange between the villain and Puneeth concludes the teaser. When the former asserts, “There are no records of my opponents winning,” Puneeth responds saying he is known for breaking such records.
Puneeth’s brothers Shivarajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar have done a cameo in James. Puneeth Rajkumar’s voice in the film was dubbed by his brother Shiva Rajkumar.
Puneeth Rajkumar, affectionately called Appu by his fans, died of a heart attack on October 29 in Bengaluru’s Vikram Hospital. He was 46 years old at the time.
