Jr NTR to attend late Puneeth Rajkumar’s Karnataka Ratna felicitation in Bengaluru

On November 1, Karnataka Rajyotsava, the government will officially confer the Karnataka Ratna award – the highest civilian honour of the state – to the late Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar. The recognition, is in honour of Puneeth’s immense contribution to cinema and social service and comes 30 years after it was awarded to his father, the late matinee idol, Dr Rajkumar. The award had been announced last year, following Puneeth’s tragic and unexpected death aged only 46 years, after he succumbed to a massive cardiac arrest last year on October 29.

The felicitation event, to be held at the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, will be a star-studded event, with the state government extending invitations to Tamil superstar Rajinikanth and Telugu star Jr NTR. The latter, who shared a close relationship with the late Puneeth, is believed to have confirmed his participation at the event. Last year, when news of Puneeth’s demise broke, Jr NTR had posted on social media, “Heartbroken! I can’t believe you have gone so soon.”

Earlier this year, when the actor came to promote his film RRR in Bengaluru, he paid tribute to Puneeth by singing a couple of lines of the song Geleya Gelya from the 2016 film Chakravyuha. Jr NTR had sung the original version too. At the RRR event, though, the visibly emotional actor said that it would be the last time ever that he sings the song.

Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar, the late actor’s widow will receive the honour, which includes a gold medal, citation, memento and a shawl. The late Power Star is only the 10th recipient of the Karnataka Ratna award, which was instituted by the state government in 1992. The late Dr Rajkumar and litterateur Kuvempu were joint winners in the inaugural year. Puneeth is the only posthumous recipient of the honour so far.