Ekka’s Yuva Rajkumar: ‘Cannot fill the void left by Puneeth Rajkumar; what I can do is…’

When Kannada cinema tragically lost its Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar, the hope that his fans held on to was that his brother Raghavendra Rajkumar’s son Yuva Rajkumar would, more or less, fill that void. His filmography, it seemed, was being tailored to ensure that fans would not miss the Power Star that much. For starters, Yuva began his career with director Santhosh Ananddram, who delivered two hits with Puneeth and was to do a third when the latter passed away. While that self-titled film did not work for Yuva, with his next, Ekka, the expectations are of a film with the vibes of Puneeth’s hit Jackie.

Yuva Rajkumar: It is not possible to fill the void left by Puneeth Rajkumar

Ekka, directed by Rathnan Prapancha maker Rohit Padaki, will be in theatres on July 18, ahead of which Yuva spoke to The Hindu and addressed this expectation that audiences have of him. Yuva is categoric that it is impossible to fill a void as large as that left by Puneeth, with him or anyone else, for that matter. “If there are people who have such expectations, let me tell them, it is not possible,” he says, adding, that his legacy may remind people of Puneeth, “But I am and will always be Yuva”.

Also read: Yuva Rajkumar on the late Puneeth Rajkumar: No one can fill the void he left onscreen 

What Yuva can do, however, is fill the void of the number of films that Puneeth used to do routinely. “He used to do films regularly and ensure that a certain number of people in the industry constantly had worked. That is the void that actors like me can aim to fill, in terms of the number of films to ensure a constant flow of movies to theatres,” he said.

Check out: Yuva movie review: Yuva Rajkumar’s debut film is all mass and no material 

Ekka pairs Yuva with Sanjana Anand, while Sampada Hulivana is also in the film. It revolves around his character Muthu, who comes to Bengaluru and gets caught in the city’s underworld. The film was earlier meant to release on June 6, but was then pushed ahead. The teaser and the songs that have come out so far have been well received, and the buzz is that Ekka will be the film that will end the current drought of Kannada cinema that does well in theatres.