First look of Puneeth Rajkumar’s last film James unveiled, fans say ‘miss you’

Actor ShivaRajkumar on Wednesday took to Twitter to unveil a new poster of his late brother Puneeth Rajkumar's last film "James," on the occasion of Republic Day. Several fans took to the comments section to remember Puneeth, who was fondly called as Appu.

Sharing the poster of James, ShivaRajkumar tweeted, "Appu as James. Happy Republic Day to all." 

Emotional fans fondly remembered Puneeth, who passed away last November following a cardiac arrest. One fan wrote: "Your passing is a life-threatening pain."

"James" has been directed by Chethan Kumar, who had worked with Puneeth in the blockbuster Kannada film Raajakumara. Priya Anand plays the female lead. Puneeth had completed the entire shooting but for one action sequence. However, he couldn't dub for the movie, but the makers, as per reports, are still confident about releasing the film in cinemas.

Puneeth was last seen in last year's Kannada flick, Yuvarathnaa, which was a box-office success, after which he had signed a film titled Dvitva with filmmaker Pawan Kumar. The project was announced with much fanfare a few months ago - both Puneeth and Pawan were kicked about joining hands. Trisha was signed as his co-star.

One of the biggest stars in Kannada cinema, Puneeth was the son of superstar Rajkumar. He started his career as a child artist with 1985 film Bettadu Hoovi, and even won the National Film Award for Best Child Artist. 

Puneeth made his debut as a lead actor with 2002 Kannada film Appu. Some of his popular famous films include Abhi, Veera Kannadiga, Arasu, Raam, Hudugaru and Anjani Putra, among others. On October 29, 2021, Puneet died at the age of 46.