We celebrate Puneeth Rajkumar by fulfilling his dream and releasing Gandhada Gudi: Amoghavarsha

If things had gone as per plan, the teaser and title reveal of Puneeth Rajkumar’s wildlife documentary, which he produced and starred in along with director Amoghavarsha JS, would have been out on November 1. The actor’s untimely death, though, halted this plan. But for the team of the late actor’s production house, especially his wife, Ashwini, and Amoghavarsha, the way ahead was to honour his wish of presenting this dream project to audiences.

An auspicious moment came up for the team on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the late actor’s mother, Parvathamma Rajkumar, on December 6, when they released the teaser and title of the project. Called Gandhada Gudi, the wildlife documentary that captures the beauty of Karnataka’s jungles, beaches and oceans was a big dream for Puneeth and he was proud to have been associated with it.

Watch the teaser here:  

“Although we are said that Puneeth is not around anymore, fulfilling Puneeth’s dream of releasing Gandhada Gudi is the best way to celebrate and honour him,” said Amoghavarsha, speaking to the media after the teaser launch. He adds, “My effort has been to present this project, which I would define as experiential cinema, exactly as he envisioned. As mentioned in the teaser, this is a film that is based on true events. There are some stories that we see or hear, but there are others that we experience and that is what Gandhada Gudi is about. Truth be told, it is difficult to explain what this film is, but suffice to say that it is something that has to be experienced on the big screen.”

Gandhada Gudi, he says, is a film that was shot across Karnataka. “Puneeth sir loved travel and food. And this film took us to almost every nook and cranny of Karnataka over the one year that we took to put this together. But what’s most important is that this is not to be confused with a wildlife documentary. This is a film that tells a lot of stories and emotions and has several messages as well. It is also perhaps the first time that Puneeth is seen without makeup; he wanted people to see him just the way he is. He did not want his star status to reflect in any aspect of the making,” explains Amoghavarsha, adding that he feels blessed and lucky to have been able to spend the better part of a year to make this film.