Dhikkara Ninage Devare song: Visuals of the late Puneeth Rajkumar all smiles on set of James are bitter-sweet for fans

One of the biggest Kannada hits of 2022 so far is the late Puneeth Rajkumar’s last commercial film James, which arrived in cinemas on March 17. Although most halls in Karnataka played the film in the first few days of its release, soon enough RRR came along and now, with KGF: Chapter 2 also in the fray this week, James is set to wind up its theatrical run and head to OTT. The Chethan Kumar directorial will be available to stream on SonyLiv on April 14.

Ahead of the film’s OTT release, the team of James released the tribute song Dhikkara Ninage Devare, which plays during the end credits of the film. While the lyrical video includes visuals of Shivarajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar from their cameos, what’s most beautiful and equally heart-breaking are the glimpses of the late Puneeth Rajkumar during the making of the film. The actor, who was known for his hearty smile, is all smiles and having fun on the set of James, the visuals of which are likely to tug at the heartstrings of his hardcore fans, because they will not see him on the big screen again in a full-fledged role. The song has been composed and sung by composer Charanraj.

Produced by Kishore Pathikonda, and directed by Chethan Kumar, James was released posthumously as a treat for the late actor’s fans. It paired him with his Raajakumara co-star Priya Anand, while Meka Srikanth, Sarath Kumar, Tarak Ponnappa, John Kokken, Shine Shetty, Chikkanna, Tilak, were also part of the cast. Since Puneeth Rajkumar had not dubbed for his role, Shivarajkumar stepped in and provided his vocals for the role. At the time of Puneeth’s demise, the team had about 20-days’ worth of work pending, which was patched up in record time to meet their promise of releasing the film on March 17.