Fondly called ‘Appu’ by his fans, 18 months after he died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 46, thousands are queuing up in Bengaluru on a Sunday, like any other day, to catch a glimpse of his memorial. The crowd has men, women, and children – many carrying flowers and balloons that say ‘love you’ and ‘miss you’, while others are taking selfies and some have tears in their eyes.
“His eyes were donated after his death, as per his pledge. He lives in our eyes and hearts… So we come here for some solace,” said a group of youngsters as they bought his photographs as a souvenir.
A few days ago, Puneeth Rajkumar’s family had a brush with politics as the wife of his elder brother Shiva Rajkumar, Geetha Shiva Rajkumar, joined the Congress. The party announced that Shiva will also join the Congress campaigns in Shimoga along with his wife, who happens to be the daughter of former Karnataka chief minister S Bangarappa.
“This will help the grand old party to draw the fans of the late Rajkumar and his son, Puneeth Rajkumar and add some star power to the Karnataka Congress,” a state party leader told News18.
This seems to be a counter to popular Kannada actor Kichcha Sudeep joining the BJP’s campaign.
Fans speak
Karnataka’s matinee idol Dr Rajkumar and his youngest son Puneeth Rajkumar have always been apolitical. Puneeth’s fans want it to remain that way.
“The real voters may not like this. It may not help the party concerned too. People love ‘Appu’ for his social work and the contribution he made to people’s lives through his gestures. This is not about elections,” said SF Hallur, a retired banker from Hubli, who is visiting the memorial for the first time with his daughter Spoorthy Hallur, a software engineer. “Look at the crowd. People miss Puneeth, so they come,” she said.
Another visitor, Manohar Bhupal, pointed at the dirty roof of the memorial and said the local MLA should first get the roof cleaned. Puneeth and his parents are now buried next to each other at the Kanteerava Studios, where thousands stream in daily to pay their respects. Some spoke of the family’s gesture to pledge donating their eyes after a member’s death and how this gave a new lease of life to many.
In fact, at the Dr Rajkumar eye bank in Narayana Nethralaya in Bengaluru, where Puneeth and his parents’ eyes were donated, pledges for eye donation have crossed one lakh since his death – before that, there were only 76,000 pledges in the 30 years since the eye bank was set up. A new missed call helpline set up by the Centre has become popular in the state.
It is not new for south Indian film stars to become cult figures in their lifetime and even bigger after they die. In the case of Puneeth, his untimely death and popularity during his lifetime have etched him in the minds of the people for good.
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