Puneeth Rajkumar is lovingly called ‘Power Star’ by his fans, and now a film has been made with the same name. It had to be renamed a couple of times but finally Power *** stuck on. His reaction? He says, “The name Power Star has been given to me by my fans and they are my power. I hope the film, which is the result of hard work and love from the entire team, lives up to their expectations. Though it is a remake, the effort put into it is no less.”
He adds, “Monikers do not bring a sense of accomplishment. I have just completed a little over 12 years in the industry with only 22 films. I have got a long way to go with different makers and different kind of scripts. My achievements are yet to begin. My father did over 200 films but never felt the satisfaction of achieving it all, and still thought he could have done better films.”
On Power ***, which is being helmed by director K Madesh, Puneeth says, “I had the chance to work with a lot of good actors. Starting with Prabhu, Trisha, my great friends Rangayana Raghu and Sadhu Kokila, I think half the industry was in the film. Working with them throughout the film gave me good vibes.”
Puneeth thinks about his career often. He says, “I feel only a director can tell what my strength as an actor is. As a person and as an artiste, I look out for facets that I can improve upon. On the set of each film, I only think of how I can do better with my dance or fight sequences. For me, everything has to get better.”
On a personal note, he says, “My strength is definitely my family and friends. My weakness remains food! Wherever I go, I love to eat.”
He is aware that Power *** ’s journey has not been smooth and opines, “I have done my duty. I have not directed or produced the film. So I have really not gone into the problems that it faced. When I used to handle production under my banner, we didn’t face as many problems. Now, I guess the industry works in such a way that we can’t help but go with the flow. At this point, despite the hiccups, we should focus on good filmmaking. I am sure the film can stand on its own merit.”
Puneeth is also shooting for Ranavikrama. How is he going about projecting himself differently in every film?
“It’s the director’s job to project me in different ways. I only work with the right person who can portray me in a unique way,” says Puneeth.
He adds, “After Ranavikrama, I will start with Dodmane Huduga with Suri, followed by another film with director Saravanan from Chennai. After these, I might do a home production and a film directed by Prashanth of Uggramm fame,” he signs off.