Biography / trivia

#  Puneeth Rajkumar was born on 17th March 1975 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

#  His father Dr. Rajkumar is legend in Kannada film industry who acted in more than 200 movies and won Padma Bhushan award and Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his contribution to film industry. His mother Parvathamma Rajkumar is a noted film producer.

#  Puneeth Rajkumar’s birth name is Lohith and he also called as Power Star, Appu by his fans.

#  Kannada film actor Shivaraj Kumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar are his elder brothers. He has two elder sisters too.

#  Puneeth is married to Ashwini Revanath and the couple have two daughters Drithi & Vandhita.

#  Puneeth made his acting debut when he was just six months old with “Premada Kanike” but his did his first significant role in Vasantha Geetha when he was 5. He in most of his father’s movies as his son.

#  He won “National Film Award for Best Child Artist” for his performance in “Bettada Hoovu” in 1985.

#  He discontinued his education and took acting seriously. Even then he studied at home with the help of private teacher and got a Diploma in Computer Science.

#  He was doing mining business before starting his film career.

#  Puneeth made his acting debut in a lead role with film Appu in 2002 opposite Rakshita. The film was a huge hit and the film was remade in tamil and telugu as Dum and Idiot respectively.

#  Puneeth is well trained in Kalarippayattu, an oldest Martial arts in India, he learnt it for his debut movie Appu.

#  He delivered blockbuster movies in a row with Appu, Abhi, Veera Kannadiga, Maurya, Aakash etc.

#  Apart from acting he is also interested in singing. As a child artist he sung “Kanadante Mayavadanu” song which was a huge hit. In “Bettada Hoovu” movie he sung with well known singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam. Even today he occasionally sings for his movies.

#  Puneeth established “Shakti Dhama” Ashram in Mysooru to help underprivileged women and children.

#  He endorsed many brands in karnataka including Malabar Gold, Manappuram, Nandini Milk etc.

Quotes

“Most of my days in childhood was spent in a studio. In Madras I hardly went to school. I knew the AVM and Vahini studios more than I knew my school. That is why I was forced to quit school. I passed my school and college exams privately.”

“I do not keep very high expectations. I believe in hard work. To remain distinct I work hard. I keep the casual and natural style of my real life on screen too. I always make it a point not to give highly charged melodramas from my side. I don’t like to hear lectures or give lectures. I would like my films to be more sensible and practical in approach.”

“I do want to work with filmmakers from different industries, but I don’t think I will do a straight Telugu or Malayalam film. I would like to do multi-linguals, though, as long as one of the versions is in Kannada.”

“Besides good actor and actress, a movie needs good technicians and script. As I said earlier, I first see the script and technicians, who I am going to work with. This is the secret behind the success.”

Filmography / all movies list