The large hall at the Palace Grounds reverberated with heart-touching songs, emotional videos and poignant speeches dedicated to ‘Power Star’ Puneeth Rajkumar here on Tuesday. But none captured the event’s mood as strongly as Shivarajkumar’s rendering of a classic Hindi song.
Calling his brother his biggest inspiration, an emotional Shivarajkumar, sang a few lines of Main Shayar To Nahin from ‘Bobby’ (1973). “We would always sing this song in all our parties,” he said, controlling his tears.
The seasoned actor was speaking at ‘Puneeth Namana’, a tribute ceremony held by the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce.
“He achieved so much in cinema at a young age. His other side of being involved in social service is equally inspiring. I will never believe he has left me,” said Shivarajkumar.
The who’s who of the Kannada film industry had gathered to pay respects to Puneeth. Celebrities and high-profile politicians, including Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, lit candles and later paid floral tributes to Puneeth’s portrait.
A grieving Ashwini, Puneeth’s wife, hardly gathered courage to watch tribute videos of her husband and left the event along with daughter Vanditha Rajkumar after Bommai’s address. Ace composer Gurukiran, and lyricist Nagendra Prasad were main men behind soulful performances dedicated to the star. A heart-touching video of Puneeth’s inspiring journey came in the poignant voice of actor Sudeep.
Actors Yash, Darshan, Jaggesh, Ramesh Aravind, V Ravichandran, Umashree, Sudharani and Rachita Ram were some of the stalwarts from Sandalwood at the event. Big names from other film industries R Sarathkumar, Shrikanth, and Vishal too were present.
Journalists upset with police
Many print journalists lashed out at Bangalore City Police on Twitter for ‘treating them disrespectfully’ at the event.
They demanded an apology for creating chaos and denying them smooth entry to the programme.
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