Puneeth Rajkumar is an actor who doesn’t seem to age. Turning a year older on March 17, he seems to be enjoying every bit of being a college student in Santhosh Ananddram’s directorial Yuvarathnaa. “I just had a fantastic experience shooting at a University in Mangaluru and an equally an amazing experience shooting at a college at Dharward. Getting into the role of a college student took me back in time,” he says.
An actor, who goes with the flow, the Powerstar is glad to have been part of good subjects off late.
In addition, his production responsibilities has kept him on his toes. Now, looking ahead, Puneeth plans to make more films under the Vajreshwari banner and PRK (Parvathamma Rajkumar productions). Kavaludaari, directed by Hemanth M Rao, will be PRK’s first venture, the release of which he is looking forward to. “Though I am not new to production, as it was part of my growing years, I have come to realise that the creative process constantly evolves. What has probably remained a constant is acting and performance.
The form of business, the ideology towards films, getting in different kinds of audience to theatres keep varying. Right now, there is a great market for our films. I am focusing on production to bring out films that I always had in mind,” says Puneeth, who reveals to us that the first spark of starting PRK came with Hemanth’s script. “I had known Hemanth very well who made his debut with Godhi Banna Sadharna Mykattu. He had come with a subject called Kavaludaari, the story of which he explained to me. We gave him a free hand to take the film forward. My wife (Ashwini) also got involved as a producer in this film. We started a banner under my mother’s name - (PRK) and I thought it is the best way to keep her memories alive,” says Puneeth, adding, “Whether it is acting or production, I am always one step to experiment with unique subjects.”
Puneeth is overwhelmed to his viewers for their appreciation, especially for his latest film Natasaarvabhowma by Pavan Wadyer. While Yuvarathnaa is what he wants to focus on now, he has also been in talks with filmmakers on starting other projects. His next will be James but is waiting for the final script to be ready before making any kind of an official announcement.
“I don't’ want to talk about any project of mine unless everything is planned,” he says.