The last rites of late Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar were performed today with state honours at Sree Kanteerava Studios in Bengaluru.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and a huge crowd of fans were present at the studio to pay their last respect to the late star.
Earlier, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai paid his last respects to late Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar at Sree Kanteerava Studios in Bengaluru.
"It was a personal bonding with the entire family and more so with 'Appu'. I had seen him as a boy. We had relations since those days. Therefore I am giving him a final salute. Certainly, I was emotional," Basavaraj Bommai said.
"It's a personal loss to me. We have lost a very great talent," he added.
Puneeth Rajkumar passed away on October 29 at the age of 46 following a cardiac arrest. He was admitted to Vikram Hospital in Bengaluru, after experiencing chest pain, where he breathed his last.
The demise of Puneeth took the entire country by shock and several popular actors from Mumbai and South film industry including Dhanush, Mahesh Babu, Jr NTR, Ram Charan, Abhishek Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, among others, have expressed their condolences.
Apart from that, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other noted politicians including Karnataka CM Basavaraj S Bommai, Rahul Gandhi, Prakash Javdekar and Nirmala Sitharaman also mourned his death.
Son of matinee idol Rajkumar, Puneeth is also lovingly called 'Appu' and 'Power Star' by his fans. He was associated with the silver screen since he was a child.
The 46-year-old actor has been the lead star in 29 films since his 2002 acting debut in 'Appu', with his last release being 'Yuvarathnaa', which came out in April earlier this year. His other notable performances include, 'Raam', 'Hudugaru', and 'Anjani Putra'.
(With inputs from ANI)
