A never-heard-before Puneeth Rajkumar story, courtesy of team Hostel Hudugaru Bekagiddare, leaves netizens emotional

The gang of Rakshit Shetty, Rishab Shetty & others seemed in great spirits on the evening of July 10. The occasion was the trailer launch of the much-awaited comedy film Hostel Hudugaru Bekagiddare and the occasion also saw noted producer Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar and action prince Dhruva Sarja in attendance. Rakshit Shetty, who is presenting the film under his home banner of Paramvah Studios, shed light on why he chose to come on board and also shared a few interesting anecdotes about its making, and so did Rishab Shetty. 

It soon turned out that the stage was set for a lot of candour and reminiscence and one such super-endearing incident, involving none other than the Powerstar Puneeth Rajkumar, was brought to light.

When Nithin Krishnamurthy, writer-director of Hostel Hudugaru Bekagiddare, took the stage along with the core crew (including cinematographer Arvind S. Kashyap), he could not help but recount a moment that occurred online a few months ago. 

"We had launched the tribute video for Appu sir after he passed away and found that one of the comments on that video on YouTube was particularly striking. A priest at a Sadashiv Nagar temple had written it. He wrote that on the day Appu sir was meant to launch our first poster (back in 2020), he stopped at the same temple. This was during the Covid-19 days but he wasn't wearing a mask and he asked the priest if he could still enter. The priest agreed. Appu sir wanted to get archane (a ritualistic pooja) done and when the priest inquired if it was to be performed in his name, he said, "No, a young team is about to make a new film and I am releasing their poster. Please perform the archane in their name". Ever since I read that comment, I just cannot fathom whether anybody could be like him," said Nithin Krishnamurthy on stage.

Many would know that Puneeth Rajkumar featured in the first promo of Hostel Hudugaru Bekigiddare wherein he plays himself in a comedy sketch along with the team. The video garnered a lot of attention not only for its humour but also for the fact that Puneeth Rajkumar, despite being a superstar, chose to back a team of several debutants.

In the same vein, Rakshit Shetty, who took the stage the same evening, remembered Puneeth Rajkumar for his benevolence. "Whatever Appu sir inaugurated so far has fetched incredible results. Out Paramvah Studios, too, was inaugurated by him," he shared.