Bangalore Literature Festival: 'Puneeth touched hearts of millions with his simplicity, humility & philanthropy'

Puneeth Rajkumar made his presence felt at the Bangalore Literature Festival with a session dedicated to his memory.

The session, ‘Puneet Rajkumar: Mugda naguvondara kanmare’, had authors A S Prabhakar, K Puttaswamy and Jayant Kaikini talking about the late Kannada star.

‘Mugda naguva kanmare’ is a book by Prabhakar as a tribute to Puneeth Rajkumar. The book gives multiple perspectives on how people from different walks of life and different fields understood and comprehended the loss of the great actor.

“Aiming to overcome the strong sense of sadness, people engaged in different activities dedicated to the actor, Prabhakar said.

Puneeth’s career can be seen in two folds. He stands as one of the few actors who had a flourishing career as a child artist as well as an actor. “Though he did not receive a formal education, his career as a child artist took off along with the success of Dr Rajkumar,” Prabhakar said.

The session also discussed the various contributing factors that led to the success of the late actor’s career. “While choosing mindful scripts can be seen as a key factor, other aspects such as reaching out to the public through rightful social messages and the nature of the characters he chose, aided to his career,” said Puttaswamy.

The session also highlighted how his upbringing reflected in the kinds of roles he played. Through the course of his career as an actor, he evolved into a renowned singer.

Although the famous actor Faced Three generations of competition throughout his career, he won the hearts of millions of all age groups. Today, he stands as the Yuvarathna of Karnataka. He was able to connect with people across the state because of his respect towards women and children.

The speakers also discussed the television success of Puneeth. Shows such as ‘Kannadadda kotyadipathi’ and ‘Family Power’ brought a revolution in the television industry. Through these shows, he reached out to millions of people across the globe.

Apart from his flourishing career, panellists discussed the contributions of Puneeth to society. The panellists narrated how he helped children receive primary schooling through his charitable work, and numerous people received shelter and food.