Aircraft bearing ‘Happy birthday, Puneeth Rajkumar’ message to fly across Bengaluru tomorrow

Final plan for the late actor’s birthday celebration will depend on Sec 144 situation in the city

Puneeth Rajkumar in a still from James

March 17 will be a bittersweet day for fans of Puneeth Rajkumar. This is his first birthday since his tragic demise last year, following a massive heart attack. It is also the birthday that brings to them his last commercial film, James. Fans who have been dying to catch a glimpse of their favourite Power Star onscreen, will get a two-and-a-half-hour bonanza when the film releases. While James is, no doubt, the highlight of the celebrations tomorrow, there’s something extra special to kickstart it all.

According to a source, Puneeth Rajkumar’s family will be at his samadhi in the morning, following which, an aircraft bearing a ‘Happy birthday, Puneeth Rajkumar’ banner will fly across Bengaluru. “The team is still finalizing the details considering there’s Section 144 enforced in the city,” says the source.

Meanwhile, Puneeth’s last commercial film, James, is set to release in over 4,000 screens across the world tomorrow, in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi. Shows start as early as 1.20 am in Bengaluru and all single-screens in the state will only play James on March 17.

Directed by Chethan Kumar and produced by Kishore Pathikonda, James was in production when Puneeth passed away. At the time Chethan had said that the late actor had finished the talkie portions and that only a couple of songs were pending, and that he would be able to present the film in a coherent fashion for fans to have one last glimpse of the actor onscreen. Although his wildlife adventure documentary Gandhada Gudi is also set to get a big-screen release, James is the last commercial film by Puneeth Rajkumar. Tomorrow will be the last time that his fans get to celebrate a release with a first day first show (FDFS) viewing.

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