About Puneeth the king of kfi in Sadashivanagar, Bangalore-560080., Bangalore

Lohith (born 17 March 1975), known by his screen name Puneeth Rajkumar, is an Indian film actor, playback singer and television presenter who mostly works in Kannada cinema. He has appeared over 25 films as a lead actor, prior to which he had a career as a child artiste appearing in films to which his father Rajkumar appeared in lead roles. As a child artist, his performances in Vasantha Geetha (1980), Bhagyavantha (1981), Chalisuva Modagalu (1982), Eradu Nakshatragalu (1983) and Bettada Hoovu (1985) received appreciation.[1] He won the National Film Award for Best Child Artist for his role of Ramu in Bettada Hoovu.[2] His first film in a lead role came in the 2002 in Appu. He went on to appear in other commercial successful films over the years, such as Abhi (2003), Aakash (2005), Arasu (2007), Milana (2007), Jackie (2010), Hudugaru (2011) and Paramathma (2011), establishing him as one of the leading contemporary actors in Kannada cinema.

He is the youngest son of Rajkumar, Kannada cinema's most celebrated actor, and the brother of actors Shivarajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar. In 2012, he debuted as a television presenter with the game show Kannadada Kotyadhipati, a Kannada version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.
Early life[edit]
Puneeth Rajkumar was born as Lohith at Kalyani Hospital, Madras, Tamil Nadu, to Rajkumar and Parvathamma Rajkumar as their fifth and youngest child. He grew up there till the age of six, before the family shifted base to Bangalore. A superstar at the time, his father took him to his shooting sets along with his sister Poornima till he was ten years old.[3] His elder brothers Shiva Rajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar were popular actors in the 1990s, with the former still acting in films.

Puneeth started his film career when he was six months old in his father's film Premada Kanike[4] and Sanaadi Appanna[5] when he was one year old. He appeared as a son for his real father in many movies such as Yarivanu, Vasantha Geetha, Chalisuva Modagalu. He left school at a very early age and began to act in movies. He studied with a private teacher at his home and later received a Diploma in Computer Science. He then started a career in a mining business before entering the film industry in leading roles. He was trained in dancing and fighting for three years before his first film as a hero. Puneeth has had training in Kalarippayattu, one of the oldest Indian martial arts.[citation needed]

Career[edit]
Early career (1976–89)[edit]
His acting career started with the movie "Premada Kaanike" and then continued with Vasantha Geetha","Bhagyavanta,"Yeradu Nakshatragalu", "Parashu Ram".He had won national award for his role in 'bettada hoovu'.

Lead roles (2002–present)[edit]
Appu is the first film which he acted as Hero, which Became Block Buster, Then "Abhi", Followed By "Veera Kannadiga", "Maurya" ,"Namma Basava" , "Aakash", Arasu and "Bindass" all crossed 100 days and made him Top Hero in Kannada Film Industry.In 2007, He starred in Milana which has run for a year in PVR Multiplex Bangalore. He received the Karnataka State Best Actor Award for his role in the film.[1][6] In 2010, he starred in the movie Jackie paired with Bhavana Menon. This movie got wide critical acclaim [7] and was adjudged the Best Film of 2010 at the South Filmfare Awards.[8] The Telugu version was released on 6 May 2011. He acted in two movies in the year 2011, including Hudugaru.[9] Puneeth earned his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Kannada[10] and also SIIMA awards for Best Actor for this movie. The other was Paramathma[11] under the direction of director Yograj Bhat, followed by Anna Bond in 2012 directed by Soori,[12] the director who had directed him in Jackie. His movie Yaare Koogadali[13] released in December 2012 got rave reviews from critics and was followed by Ninnindale (2014). Power which has hit the theaters recently is going strong at the box office. Puneet Starrer Makes Record Collection of ₹22 Crore in 6 Days [14] Puneeth is the only actor so far who has a 75% Success Ratio, in which 17 films out of 23 films completed 100 days+. In total, so far he has acted in 23 Films with Ranavikrama (2015 Kannada film) being his latest, where he has the record of 17 films (Appu to hudugaru and Power***) running for 100+ days, 4 films (Anna Bond, Yaare Koogadali, Mythri, Ranavikrama) completing 50+ days, and 1 film completing 75+ days(Paramathma) and also 1 movie (Ninnindale) completed 25+ days run in theaters. He is the only actor whose first consecutive 16 movies (Appu to Hudugaru) ran for 100 days plus making the only actor in India to achieve this incredible feat.

Singing career[edit]
Apart from acting, Puneeth also had a singing career. He has sung since his childhood in all his movies as a child artist. Kanadante Mayavadanu from Chalisuva Modagalu is one of his songs as a child artist. He sang with S. P. Balasubrahmanyam in his movie Bettada Hoovu. When he entered as a male lead he also began singing at least one song in all his films.

It is usual for music directors of his movies to record a song in his voice. From his first movie Appu, he was mostly singing solo. With the song Jothe Jotheyali from the movie Vamshi he sang duets too.[15] In 2010 he sang another fast-number in his movie Jackie after which he rendered voice to his brother Shivrajkumar's film titled "Lava Kusha" and Mylari.[16] Puneeth has also given voice for Ganesh movie Shyloo and also for Yogesh's Sidlingu. He is also given voice in films like Ale,Tirupathi Express,Sharan's Adyaksha and Tony.

Most of his songs have turned out to be hits that include songs which are dominantly rhythmic and peppy such as "Bandanoora Bhandarella", "Hosa gaana bajaana", "Taliban alla alla", "Hotappa hotu", "Adhyaksha", "Naaire naaire" among others. And a few of his songs like "Jothe jotheyali", "Guruvaara sanje" have a melodious tune too.

TV Shows[edit]
In 2013 Puneeth hosted the quiz show Kannadada Kotyadhipati which is modeled on the Hindi show Kaun Banega Crorepati hosted by Amitabh Bachchan, which was in turn modeled on British show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? hosted by Chris Tarrant.[17] Show had a very High TRP ratings all over the season.[citation needed]. After the phenomenal success of season-1[18] second season followed in 2013.[19]

Other interests[edit]
Before entering the film industry he was actively involved in a Home Banner Vajreshwari Combines film distribution job in Karnataka, which still continues. He produced some of the movies made for their brothers Shivaraj Kumar as well as Raghavendra Rajkumar. Two TV serials were also produced by him. In the same serial he has made guest appearance. In the movie Akasmika he designed the costumes of Rajkumar.

Puneeth has a knowledge of Steadicam which is used in films to shoot scenes like stunts and car chases. Learning about new brand cameras and high definition lenses to movies is his favorite hobby.[citation needed]

As per the wishes of his father Rajkumar, he along with his brothers and family have built a hotel in Gandhi Nagar, Bengaluru called Dr. Raj International.

Puneeth has also involved himself in philanthropic works with his mother Parvathamma Rajkumar and carries this out in an Ashram called Shakti Dhama in Mysore.[20]

Brand endorsement[edit]
Puneeth's popularity has made him the brand ambassador for a number of brands such as 7 Up (PepsiCo), F-Square, Dixcy Scott, Karnataka Milk Federation's Nandini Milk products, Malabar Gold,[21] Manappuram [22] among others. He was also a brand ambassador of the Indian Premier League cricket team, Royal Challengers Bangalore.[23]

Personal life[edit]
Puneeth met Ashwini Revanath, who would be his future wife, through a common friend. Their friendship blossomed into love and they wedded on December 1, 1999.[3] They have two daughters together; Drithi and Vanditha.

In an interview with The Times of India, Puneeth revealed about his passion about Spanish and Hollywood films, and the Italian designer wear. Michael Jackson, he said, is his favorite singer.[3]

Filmography[edit]
Child artist[edit]
YearFilmRoleNotes
1975Premada Kanikecredited as Master Rajkumar
1977Sanaadi AppannaYoung Ashok
1980Vasantha GeethaShyaamcredited as Master Lohith
1981BhagyavanthaKrishnacredited as Master Lohith
1981Thayige Thakka Magacredited as Master Lohith
1981Bhoomige Banda BhagavanthaLord Krishnacredited as Master Lohith
1982Hosa BelakuPuttucredited as Master Lohith
1982Chalisuva ModagaluRamu
1983Bhakta PrahladaPrahlada
1983Eradu NakshatragaluRaja
1984YarivanuShyaam
1985Bettada HoovuRamu
1988Shiva Mecchida KannappaYoung Kannappa
1989ParashuramAppu
Lead role[edit]
Key
Films that have not yet been releasedDenotes films that have not yet been released
YearFilmRoleNotes
2002AppuAppu
2003AbhiAbhi
2004Veera KannadigaMunna
2004MauryaManu
2005AakashAakash
2005Namma BasavaBasava
2006AjayAjay
2007ArasuShivaraj Aras
2007MilanaAakash
2008BindaasShivu
2008VamshiVamshi
2009Raaj - The ShowmanMutturaj
2009RaamRaam
2010PrithviPrithvi Kumar
2010JackieJanakirama "Jackie"
2011HudugaruPrabhu
2011ParamathmaParam
2012Anna BondBond Ravi
2012Yaare KoogadaliKumara
2014NinnindaleVicky Venkatesh
2014PowerBharath Kumar IPS
2015MythriHimselfBilingual film (Kannada, Malayalam)
2015RanaVikramaVikram Kumar
2015Doddmane HudgaFilming
2015ChakravyuhaFilming
2015JamesPre-production
2016RajakumaraPre-production
As playback singer[edit]
YearFilmSongComposer
1981Bhagyavantha"Baana Dariyalli"T. G. Lingappa
1982Chalisuva Modagalu"Kaanadante"Rajan-Nag