Death of Puneeth Rajkumar

'''Note: This page is dedicated to Puneeth Rajkumar who had passed away. May he rest in peace.'''



Puneeth Rajkumar (March 17, 1975 - October 29, 2021), colloquially known as Appu, was an Indian actor known for portraying protagonists in many commercially successful Kannada-language films such as Appu, Abhi, Veera Kannadiga, Mourya, Aakash, Ajay, Arasu, Milana, Vamshi, Raam, Jackie, Hudugaru, Power, Rana Vikrama, Chakravyuha, Raajakumara, Anjani Putra, Natasaarvabhowma, Yuvarathnaa, and posthumously, James. In 2012, he debuted as a television presenter on the game show Kannadada Kotyadhipati, the Kannada-language adaptation of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Cause of Death
On October 29, 2021, Puneeth complained of uneasiness to his wife Ashwini Revanth, and died on his way to the hospital at the age of 46. The reason for his death was declared to be cardiac arrest. He donated his eyes in accordance with a pledge by his father Dr. Rajkumar, that he along with all his family members will donate their eyes after death. The donation of his eyes has given eyesight to four different people. His state funeral was attended by the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Basavaraj Bommai and other leaders. His body was kept for public view at Kanteerava stadium for 3 days, and was reportedly attended by more than one million people. He was buried alongside his parents at Sree Kanteerava Studios in Bangalore.

Legacy
He had been called "Power Star" by the media and fans, in addition to nicknames derived from films he starred in, "Appu" and "Yuvarathnaa" (Kannada for "youth icon").

In 2021, he was awarded Karnataka Ratna after his death. On March 22, 2022, he was posthumously awarded honorary doctorate from University of Mysore at its 102nd convocation and was received by his wife Aswhini.

His posthumous release James grossed ₹100 crores within 4 days of release and became the second highest-grossing Kannada film at the time of release whilst also becoming the fastest Kannada film to gross ₹100 crores at the box office at that time, only to be surpassed by K.G.F: Chapter 2 in less than a month.

Among logos and disclaimers, the introduction of K.G.F: Chapter 2 contains a memorial dedicated to Puneeth.