PremiumPuneeth Rajkumar’s Appu to be re-released on his birth anniversary in 2025
This year, Jackie was re-mastered and brought to theatres, which has been well received by fans. Buoyed by this, Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar and KRG Studios will bring back more of Puneeth's films
Last Updated: 05.18 PM, Mar 16, 2024
When Kannada cinema’s Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar tragically passed away in 2021, his fans were devastated – after his last commercial film James, they’d never again have a first-day-first-show experience they thought. While that rings true as far as new films go, the actor’s wife, Ashwini has teamed up with KRG Studios to give his fans some happiness. As a first step towards this, they released one of Puneeth’s biggest hits, Jackie, in theatres this week, on the occasion of his birth anniversary.
The response to the Jackie re-release has been phenomenal, which has given Ashwini and Karthik Gowda of KRG Studios the confidence to go ahead and bring other Puneeth Rajkumar blockbusters back to the screen. Up next, they’ve said, will be Appu, the film that launched Puneeth as a leading man, after years as a child artiste. Work on digitally re-mastering the 2002 film will begin shortly to ensure that the film will be as good a theatrical experience as newer movies.
Appu, directed by Puri Jagannadh and produced by the actor’s mother, Parvathamma Rajkumar, was a blockbuster that ran for 200-days in theatres and was, subsequently, remade in Telugu, Tamil and Bangla. The film was also the acting debut of Rakshitha (Prem), the daughter of DOP BC Gowrishankar.
A love story, Appu followed a boy and girl from vastly different socio-economic backgrounds. The villain in the tale is the girl’s father, played by Avinash, who is hell-bent on not letting the lovebirds unite. How they overcome his objections forms the crux of the tale.'
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During the release of James, which came out on the actor’s first birth anniversary after his passing, the makers had said that they would re-release it every year on the same day, but have not done that yet. However, PRK Productions and KRG Studios will bring one major blockbuster to screens every year.