Superstar Puneeth Rajkumar, who passed away on Friday after suffering a heart attack, was extremely close to his father, the legendary Kannada film actor Rajkumar. Given a chance, he would always express his love and admiration for his father.
Being the youngest of the five children born to Rajkumar and Parvathamma, Puneet was pampered and was often taken to the film sets in his early years.
Puneet, who was quite active on Instagram, had recently shared a pic with his father whom he lovingly called Appaji.
A few weeks ago, Puneeth had shared a childhood photo of himself with his dad. It was clicked at Niagara Falls and one can spot Rajkumar holding a cola can while Puneeth is seen smiling standing next to him.
Sharing the picture, Puneeth penned a note in Kannada which roughly translates to "Those melodic moments with Appaji in 1988 at Niagara Falls, are still fresh."
Puneeth followed his father’s footsteps to the silver screen as a child artiste.
In an interview, Puneeth stated he owed everything to his father. “Today, I am what I am because of all the little things I learnt from him. He was a humane person and remained so till his end. He used to advice us only not to waste food or water and above all respect everyone. He never stood in the way of our aspirations, always telling us to choose the path that our heart leads us to,” Puneet told Indian Express in the interview.
Puneeth’s career as a child artist earned him several Karnataka State Film Awards and a National Award. He featured in 14 films by the time he turned 14.
All of six months old, Puneeth made his first screen appearance alongside Rajkumar!
Puneeth was born in Chennai in 1975.
