Puneeth's death a huge loss for new-wave Kannada cinema

There are few things more appealing than a celebrity declining to behave like one. Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar, who has died at the age of 46, was one such rarity.

More popular as the ‘power star’, Puneeth’s real power was his ability to love people. “He treated people with so much love and respect…five minutes with him and you would walk out thinking, ‘Wow! That’s the most down to earth superstar I have ever met’,” a heartbroken actor-comic Danish Sait tweeted yesterday.

And people loved him back. The charming, chiselled — from top to bottom — Appu (a nickname that stuck to him after the first film that featured him in a lead role, the 2002 hit Appu). For the industry and media, he was the box office gold.

In the past 20 years, Puneeth did 30 films and earned uncountable followers. But even when he was a big name on-screen, Puneeth, son of the late Kannada superstar Dr Rajkumar, was never too proud to play the ‘supporting’ role in real life. That often meant taking a step back to let someone else hog the limelight.

In the past four years, Puneeth produced a slew of new wave films — Kavaludaari, Mayabazar 2016, Law and French Biriyani, etc. But none of them featured him. His production house, PRK Productions (Parvathamma Rajkumar Productions), has been a refuge of sorts for budding scriptwriters, directors and actors looking for opportunities.  While actor Danish Sait starred in French Biryani, Kavaludaari gave Rishi a super hit in his second movie.

“There were always ideas for content-driven scripts but it required backing. Puneeth realised that someone like him backing new and smaller films is important, and that’s the way forward for the industry. He shouldered that responsibility. That’s why Kavaludaari became a blockbuster,” said actor Rishi.

Also read: Puneeth: the ‘Power Star’ who remained affable and humble

According to journalist and film critic Shyam Prasad, Puneeth was that rare star who was accessible to everyone. He always had the time to hear out new ideas from anyone with a story. “I personally know that he had told several aspiring directors and writers to just shoot five minutes of their story on the phone and send it to him. If it was interesting, he would take it forward and produce it for them. That’s the reason a lot of new talent with no film background got opportunities,” said Shyam Prasad.

In fact, PRK production’s next venture, O2, has two new directors, Prashanth Raj and Raghav. While Prashanth is an architect with an interest in movies, Raghav is a tattoo artist.

Spreading Kannada content on OTT

Kannada cinema has been way behind its counterparts when it comes to capturing the OTT space. Puneeth slowly started to address this issue through his production house. Out of the five Kannada movies that were released on OTT last year, PRK productions produced two of them.

“All OTT platforms had a great rapport with Puneeth. They were looking forward to buying films produced by him. They knew he was experimenting and trying to push boundaries. That’s why it is a huge loss to a lot of filmmakers and youngsters because just content won’t do, you need someone to put their weight behind and push the film forward. That way new wave films are handicapped,” said Rishi.

The Kannada industry has hardly any other big star or producer who would back such new-age films for the OTTs.

Breaking the family ‘tradition’

In the 1980s and early 1990s, the Rajkumar family came under severe criticism for creating a monopoly of sorts in the industry. Most movies of Rajkumar and his three sons were produced by their own production house – Poornima Enterprises and Vajreshwari Combines. The home banner went with established directors and artists. But Puneeth ended this ‘legacy’ after starting his production house in 2017. He didn’t act in any movie produced by his home banner.

Also read: Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar (46) dies; fans, friends in shock & disbelief

“Until recently, he was scouting for stories to make movies for children. When I last met him, he was telling me about the Giant Roboton series on Doordarshan in the 1980s, and that he wanted to give something similar to children of this generation. He was a visionary,” added Shyam Prasad.