Exclusive! After working on James with Puneeth Rajkumar, I became a fan of the man he was: Shine Shetty

Bigg Boss Kannada Season 7 winner Shine Shetty had a brief, albeit fruitful association with the late Puneeth Rajkumar, which culminated in the former making his big screen debut with the latter’s last commercial film, James, which releases in theatres on March 17.

“I had quit television to transition to films, but unfortunately, the projects I took up did not take off and then I shifted focus to my food truck and then, landed up on the seventh season of Bigg Boss Kannada. After Bigg Boss Kannada, there was a lot of reach and visibility, but the journey thereafter was not a bed of roses and my struggle did not end there. In fact, I was supposed to do a film with a good production house, but because of the pandemic it did not happen. Offers for good films kept coming but the progress was slow. Amid all this, one day, I got a call from director Chethan Kumar of James with an offer for a role in the film. I always believe that everything happens for a reason. The thought that I would only be doing one character in an ensemble cast film did not strike me at all because it was a moment of pride to be a associated with a Puneeth Rajkumar film. I look at it as my great fortune that I got to start my film journey after Bigg Boss Kannada with James,” says Shine.

Although Shine admired Puneeth Rajkumar’s prior body of work, he admits he was not a die-hard fan. “Yes, I loved watching his films, and liked him as an actor, but my perception of Puneeth changed after I met him on the set of James. I became a big fan of Puneeth for the person he was; his personality was such that everyone who’s ever met him would like him. He treated everyone with respect and we shared an immense bond during the making of the film,” says Shine, adding, “During the schedule that I was a part of, in the initial days, most of the other cast members used to remain in their own caravans or rooms during meal times. But a few days later, Puneeth invited all of us to have lunch with him, and after that, we were always with him. It was a great opportunity to work with him and spend time with him.”

Shine, who also dabbles with the food business adds, “Although I started with a food truck, the dream was always to run a restaurant. Once, during a conversation, Puneeth told me that he had seen my video on Food Lovers TV and asked me what I was up to in that regard. In fact, one of his traits was that he’d use every conversation to know more about you. I told him that I was getting ready to start a restaurant and he asked me why I wasn’t inviting him. At that point, I wasn’t sure if I could take the liberty and ask him to drop by and inaugurate this small venture, but he himself told me that he’d like to do the honours. Truth be told, I saw god in him on that day. Sometime in mid-October last year, he inaugurated my restaurant and two weeks later he was no more. That’s the last time I saw him.”

At the time, Shine had taken to social media to post a heartfelt note about the late actor. “They say life is like a movie. How true! The script of a movie has three acts. On a similar note, Puneeth Rajkumar Sir has played three important roles in the story of my life. In my initial days, I knew Puneeth Sir as the Power Star of Kannada Cinema. I was smitten by his charm on the big screen. As I was introduced to him while sharing screen space and stage shows, there developed a friendship between us. He appreciated my talent and my ideas, gave his inputs, guided me, and motivated me to grow and sustain in the film industry. In a very short span of time, our friendship evolved into a beautiful form of brotherhood. One great quality that Puneeth Sir had was to encourage people in all their personal and professional endeavours, not just ventures in cinema. This was apparent when I started Galli Kitchen. He not only stood by me, but also gave valuable entrepreneurship ideas to successfully run my business. From the star whom I adored growing up, to a professional mentor, and as my very own elder brother, the way he has influenced me cannot be described in words. I have imbibed a lot of values from him and shall try my best to live up to the faith and love he had in me,” he wrote.