Puneeth Rajkumar birth anniversary: Looking back at when special treatment due to his lineage irked him

Puneeth Rajkumar, born Lohith on March 17, carved his own path in the Kannada film industry before his death on October 29, 2021. The late actor, who is actor-politician Dr Rajkumar’s son and actors Shiva Rajkumar, Raghavendra Rajkumar’s brother, told Silvers Screen India in a 2016 interview that special treatment on sets initially irked him. (Also Read: Karnataka launches Dr Puneeth Rajkumar Hrudaya Jyoti Yojana for cardiac emergencies)

‘I remember feeling guilty’

Being Rajkumar’s third and youngest son, Puneeth was offered special treatment when he chose acting as his career. However, instead of making him happy, he told the publication that the special treatment ‘irked him’ because he knew it was due to who his father was. He said, “There was this palpable feeling of being apart from the rest. It wasn’t even because of me. It was because of who I was related to. I was too young to make sense of it all, but I remember feeling guilty.”

‘I always feel left behind’

Puneeth also told the publication that he has always felt like he was ‘playing catch-up with (his) father’s achievements’ for most of his life. “When he was my age, he’d done a hundred films. He’s left behind a legacy that is hard to emulate. My brothers and sisters are all, in their own way, exceptional people. They’ve all been part of things, done things and accomplished things by the time I was a teenager. Even now, they’re all leagues ahead of me. I always feel like I’m behind somehow,” he said.

Puneeth’s legacy

Puneeth was Dr Rajkumar and Parvathamma’s fifth and youngest child. His father was a matinee idol in the Kannada film industry, becoming a politician later on. Puneeth married Ashwini Revnath in 1999 and has two daughters with her. He was cast in Premada Kanike in 1976 when he was only six months old. He debuted in 2002 with the film Appu, directed by Puri Jagannadh. His last film was the 2022 film Gandhada Gudi, it released posthumously.

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