1976–1989: As child actor
Director V. Somashekar cast Puneeth (then known as Lohith) onscreen when he was six months old in
his
thriller film
Premada Kanike (1976), and Aarathi.[14] This was followed by Vijay's Sanaadi Appanna (1977), based
on
Krishnamoorthy
Puranik's novel of the same name,[15] when Puneeth was one year old. Thayige Thakka Maga (1978) was
again directed by V.
Somashekar and starred his father. Two years later, directors Dorai–Bhagavan cast him as Shyam in
Vasantha Geetha
(1980). This was followed by K. S. L. Swamy's mythological drama Bhoomige Banda Bhagavantha (1981,
appearing as Lord
Krishna) and B. S. Ranga's Bhagyavantha (1982),[16] in which he recorded his first popular song:
"Baana
Daariyalli
Soorya", composed by T. G. Lingappa. That year, he appeared in two hit films (Chalisuva Modagalu and
Hosa Belaku) with
his father. For the former, Puneeth received his first Karnataka State Film Award for Best Child
Actor
(Male). In 1983,
he appeared in two mythological films: Bhakta Prahlada as the protagonist, Prahlada, and Eradu
Nakshatragalu, for which
he received his second Karnataka State Film Award for Best Child Actor.
2002–2007: Debut as lead and breakthrough
In April 2002, Puneeth made his film debut as a leading man in the film Appu with actress, Rakshita
also
making her film
debut.[21] The musical by Gurukiran, directed by Puri Jagannadh and produced by Parvathamma
Rajkumar, in
which he played
a college boy, was a box office success and critics praised his dancing skills. Puneeth sang
"Taliban
Alla Alla", with
lyrics by Upendra and music by Gurukiran. The film's success spawned remakes in Telugu (Idiot
(2002))
and Tamil (Dum
(2003)).[22]
Puneeth next appeared in Dinesh Babu's Abhi (2003) as a plucky college boy who is devoted to his
mother.
In the film,
based on a true story and produced by Parvathamma Rajkumar, he starred with debutante Ramya.[23]
2008–2015: Other films
The actor released two films in 2008: D. Rajendra Babu's Bindaas and Prakash's Vamshi. Puneeth's
first
2009 release was
Raaj – The Showman. Although the film (directed by Prem) was criticised, his performance was
praised.[29] His other film
Raam, with Priyamani, was a remake of the Telugu hit Ready.[30]
Puneeth returned to the limelight in 2010 with back-to-back hits. The first was Jacob Varghese's
political thriller
Prithvi, in which he played a bureaucrat in Ballari district who fights corruption. His next release
was
the action film
Jackie, directed by Duniya Soori,[31] which was a commercial success. In 2011, Puneeth co-starred in
K.
Madesh's
Hudugaru, a remake of the Tamil film Nadodigal[32] in which he reprised M. Sasikumar's role in the
original. For his
performance, he received his second Filmfare and first SIIMA Best Actor awards.[33] In Yogaraj
Bhat's
travelogue
Paramathma, Puneeth's next release, his character searches for love.[34]
2016–2022
In March 2016, Puneeth worked for M. Saravanan's Chakravyuha and Duniya Soori's Doddmane Hudga. In
2017,
he appeared in
Santhosh Ananddram 's Raajakumara, which broke all-records in box-office and became the
highest-grossing
Kannada-language film of all time beating previous record of Mungaru Male,[41][42] later the record
was
taken up by the
movie K.G.F: Chapter 1. He also had the starring role in A Harsha's Anjani Putra alongside Rashmika
Mandanna, which was
a remake of Tamil film Poojai. Puneeth Rajkumar has played narrator role in the Anup Bhandari
directed
Rajaratha. In
2019 his film Natasaarvabhowma was released and also had commercial success.[43][44] His last film
as a
leading role,
James, was posthumously released on what would have been Puneeth's 47th birthday, 17 March 2022. It
broke the record for
the biggest opening day collection, and was the fastest Kannada movie to gross 100 crores.[45][46]
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