Late Kannada actor Dr. Puneeth Rajkumar was conferred with the prestigious ‘Karnataka Ratna’ award today on the 67th state formation day of Karnataka. Puneeth Rajkumar was a celebrated actor in Karnataka having a legacy of some really successful films. His father Mr. Rajkumar was also one of the pioneers of Kannada cinema. He too had receievd the Karnataka Ratna award in 2009. He was the infact the first recipent of the Karnataka Ratna award, considered the highest civilian award in Karnataka.
Mr. Puneeth Rajkumar started his acting career at a very young age. He was only six months old when he first starred in a movie. He also won the national award for his child artist role in the film Bettada Hoovu. He has till now around 29 films to his credit. Most of them have run successfully in the box office. He passed away at a young age of 46. He passed away due to cardiac arrest, that he sufered on the October 29th last year. He was fondly called ‘Appu’ and ‘power star’ by his fans and well wishers.
Today as he was conferred with the Karnataka Ratna award, many people attended the occasion. There was jam-packed audience in the road leading towards the venue. The Ambedkar Road, front of the Vidhan Soudha was closed for the traffic. Commuters were advised to use the alternate rroutes by the traffic police. Many big celebrities like Rajnikanth, Jr. NTR also attended the event. Many big ministers, political leaders, legislators also graced the occasion. Puneeth Rajkumar, considerd one of the reigning stars of the Kannada industry was conferred with the Karnataka Ratna posthumously in the presence of his wife, siblings and close family members. Infosys chairperson Sudha Murthy also attended the occasion.
As part of the Karnataka Ratna felicitaiton, Mr. Puneeth Rajkumar’s family was awarded with the full silver plaque and a 50-gramm gold medal on behalf of the late powerstar Puneeth Rajkumar. Mr. Puneeth Rajkumar is the 9th recipient of the prestigious Karnataka Ratna. THe Vidhan Soudha event to feliciitate Mr. Puneeth Rajkumar was shortened due to the sudden rains that poured out on the occasion. Karnataka Ratna award was last honoured to Dr. Virendra Hegde for his social service in the year 2009.
