‘Appu’ Puneeth Raj Kumar left the film industry into a shock today, as he lost his fight against cardiac arrest today. The famous, popularly known actor Puneet Raj Kumar started his career as a child artist with his father in the early 1980s. ‘ Raam’, ‘Hudugaru’, and ‘Anjani Putra’ are some of his memorable movies. He was last seen in ‘Yuvarathnaa’, which was released early this year.
Puneeth Rajkumar – A cruel twist of fate has snatched away from us a prolific and talented actor, Puneeth Rajkumar. This was no age to go. The coming generations will remember him fondly for his works and wonderful personality. Condolences to his family and admirers. Om Shanti.
Puneeth Raj Kumar demise shocks the nation and PM
The actor was taken to Vikram Hospital this morning in an “unresponsive” condition; in the afternoon, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai tweeted: “I am deeply shocked that Kannada celebrity Shri Puneeth Rajkumar died of a heart attack. The death of Kannadigar’s favourite actor, Appu, has caused enormous loss to Kannada and Karnataka and I pray that God will have mercy on his soul and give his fans the power to endure this pain.”
PM Narendra Modi tweeted: “A cruel twist of fate has snatched away from us a prolific and talented actor, Puneeth Rajkumar. This was no age to go. The coming generations will remember him fondly for his works and wonderful personality. Condolences to his family and admirers. Om Shanti.”
Tributes to Puneeth Rajkumar have overwhelmed Twitter with Chiranjeevi, Lakshmi Manchu, Mahesh Babu, Sudheer Babu, Dulquer Salmaan, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Pooja Hegde, Hansika, Sonu Sood and several other celebrities sharing grief-stricken posts. “Shocking, devastating and heart-breaking,” tweeted Chiranjeevi. Lakshmi Manchu wrote: “This can’t be true! How can this be?” Mahesh Babu described Puneeth Rajkumar as “One of the most humble people I’ve met and interacted with.” “This hurts so much,” tweeted Prithviraj Sukumaran.
Earlier today morning
“Actor Puneeth Rajkumar was admitted after suffering chest pain at 11.30 am. Trying our best to treat him. His condition is serious. Can’t say anything as of now. His condition was bad when brought to hospital, treatment on in ICU: Dr Ranganath Nayak, Vikram Hospital, Bengaluru.” The hospital also said that the actor had been brought in unresponsive but that doctors were “trying (their) best to treat him.”
Visuals from outside the hospital showed crowds of fans and a police presence; there were reports of shops shutting and traffic jams in Bengaluru.