Renowned actor Puneeth Rajkumar, who died last month, shall be awarded with the Karnataka Ratna Award posthumously. A tweet by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s official Twitter handle read, “State Government has decided to honour late Sri Puneet Rajkumar with Karnataka Ratna award posthumously.”
The Karnataka Ratna is the state’s highest civilian award. Puneeth Rajkumar was the son of veteran actor Rajkumar. He was cremated with state honors last month. The popular actor, who was the star of films like Mourya, Arasu, Raamand Anjani Putra, is survived by his wife Ashwini Revanth and has two children.
Read the tweet here:
“State Government has decided to honour late Sri Puneet Rajkumar with Karnataka Ratna award posthumously”: Chief Minister @BSBommai.— CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) November 16, 2021
Puneeth Rajkumar was the son of legendary actor Rajkumar. Fan fondly called him “Appu” – after the 2002 film in which he played his first lead role – and “Power Star.”
He began his career as a child artist. When he was six-months-old, he starred in two 1976 films – Premada Kanike and Aarathi. He was immensely praised for his performances in Bhakta Prahalada, which also starred his father, Vasantha Geeta and Bhagyavantha. His role in Bettada Hoovu as a young boy Ramu who assists a researcher to find a rare flower helped him receive a National Award as the Best Child Actor.
He was also a singer and was admired for his dance skills. The actor was also known as the presenter of Kannadada Kotyadhipathi, the Kannada version of game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?.
