Puneeth Rajkumar no more: Appu to Raajakumar, 7 films that will remain in our hearts forever

The sudden demise of actor Puneeth Rajkumar has left a void in our hearts that will never be filled. However, his movies will forever continue to remind us of the magic he spread with his acting skills and charm. 

Son of legendary Dr Rajkumar, Puneeth Rajkumar is one of the most loved actors of the South film industry. Puneeth entered the industry as a child artist. 

He even won the National film Award for Best Child Artist, for the movie ‘bettada Hoovu’. Later, he debuted with ‘Appu’ in 2002 which instantly became a blockbuster hit. A multitalented star that he was, here are some of the best films of his career:

Bettada Hoovu was Puneeth’s first film as a child artist. While sooting this film, Puneeth was barely 10-years-old. It was also this film which got him a national award as a child artist.

This film marked Puneeth Rajkumar’s debut in the industry. The film was directed by Puri Jagannath, the film starred Raksita, Avinash and Srinivasa Murthy and Sumithra in the lead roles. Released in various languages such as Telugu, Tamil and Bengali, the film become an superhit and ran in the theatres for 200 days.

Abhi was one of the biggest commercial hits of the year of its release, earning Rs 16 crores at the box office. The film revolves around the love story of a Hindu boy falling in love with a Muslim girl, who fight against their families to be together.

This film went down as one of the biggest films of Puneeth’s career. Directed by Mahesh Babu, Arasu saw Ramya and Meera jasmine as the female leads in the film. 

A romantic drama film directed by Prakash, ‘Milana’ saw Parvathy Menon and Pooja Gandhi as the leading ladies. Milana too is considered one of the most successful films of Puneet’s career as it ran over 100 days in about 50 odd theatres. The film is about an RJ getting married, only to realise that his partner loves another person. The two head for a divorce but as land up together again.

Ajay is a Kannada film of action genre, Helmed by Meher Ramesh, the film featured Anuradha Mehta opposite Puneeth. Ajay was a remake of ‘Okkadu’ a Telegu lokcbuster.

Released in 2010, Jackie saw Puneeth and Bhavana in the lead roles. The film, directed by Duniya Soori, was adjudged as the Best Film at the South Filmfare Awards.

Hudugaru is a mutli-starrer film featuring Puneeth, Srinagar Kitty, Yogesh and Radhika Pandit in the lead roles. Directed by K Madesh, the film is a remake Tamil film ‘Naadodigal’ which was released in 2010 Puneeth had won two awards for this film - Filmfare and SIIMA Best Actor Award in Kannada. 

Another action drama film of Puneeth, Raajakumar saw Priya Anand as Puneeth’s leading lady. Raajakumara was written and directed by Santhos Ananddram. It became the first film to finish 6,000 shows in a multiplex in six weeks of its release.