Shivarajkumar dubs for late Puneeth Rajkumar’s role in James; says it is emotionally draining

Kannada cinema’s Power Star was in the midst of shooting his next, the Chetan Kumar directorial James, produced by Kishore Pathikonda, when he passed away following a massive heart attack on October 29, 2021. At the time of his passing, the actor had finished the talkie portions of the film, with only a couple of songs pending to complete it.

In the immediate aftermath of Puneeth’s passing, Chetan had announced that since all the talkie portions had been shot, he would be able to edit and put the film together and release it at the earliest, with March 17 (the Power Star’s birthday) the most likely date. However, since the film was not being shot in sync sound and Puneeth had not dubbed for his role yet, the makers were trying to figure out if they could isolate and enhance his voice as captured during the shoot, for which they were in talks with a few studios specialising in audio technology.

But it seems that was not an option and now we hear that the team has got Puneeth’s brother and Century Star Shivarajkumar to dub for the late actor. According to reports, Shivarajkumar has begun dubbing for Puneeth’s portions at the late actor’s PRK Audios studio and has been quoted as saying that watching his brother while dubbing has been emotionally draining. Shivarajkumar has, apparently, dubbed for a few vital scenes so far and the process is still ongoing.

The news, meanwhile, had fans divided, with some welcoming the fact that Shivarajkumar has stepped in to do the needful, while others were upset that they would not be able to hear their favourite stars voice one last time. James is Puneeth’s last commercial film. The actor will be seen in his dream project Gandhada Gudi, which he shot for with Wild Karnataka maker Amoghavarsha across the length and breadth of Karnataka and will get a theatrical release soon. He also has a cameo in the upcoming film Lucky Man, in which he plays god and features in a dance number along with Prabhudeva.

Meanwhile, Shivarajkumar will also be seen in a special role in James, along with his brother Raghavendra Rajkumar, making this the first film featuring all three brothers. Puneeth is paired with his Raajakumara co-star Priya Anand in James.