Puneeth Rajkumar’s Jackie re-release: One of Appu’s most celebrated films; will get wide release, says Karthik Gowda

KRG Studios, in association with Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar, will re-release one blockbuster film by the late Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar every year on his birth anniversary, starting with Jackie

The late Puneeth Rajkumar with Bhavana in a still from Jackie

The untimely and tragic death of Kannada cinema’s Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar in October 2021 meant that there were a lot of things his fans would never again experience – from celebrating his birthday, achievements, social activities, to lining up to watch his new film FDFS and more. When the actor passed away, he had some portions of this last film, James pending, which the team managed with CGI and released it. James went on to become a stupendous box office success, primarily owing to the emotion attached to it, given it was Puneeth’s last commercial film release.

At the time, the makers of James had vowed to re-release it every year, but there's no news on that front yet.Not to fret, there is a special treat in store for Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar fans – his 2010 film Jackie, directed by Duniya Suri, which brought Malayalam actress Bhavana to Kannada cinema, is being brought to cinemas. On March 15, KRG Studios will give Jackie a wide re-release.

Speaking to OTTplay, Karthik Gowda, co-founder KRG Studios explains why Jackie is the choice for re-release in 2024. “The re-release of Jackie is primarily to celebrate Puneeth Rajkumar. The idea is to release one blockbuster film of his every year around his birthday. Jackie is one of his most celebrated films. It’s the film for fans, and for everyone. When Ashwini (Puneeth Rajkumar’s wife) and I were discussing about what could be done for his birthday, we thought about bringing Jackie back to theatres. Re-releasing is a trend now across all languages, especially in the south. We wanted to capture that trend also. The time aligns very well,” says Karthik.

The producer-distributor adds, “Jackie is the massiest Puneeth Rajkumar film. It had a great theatrical run and all the songs were hits. Keeping all this in mind, we zeroed in on Jackie as the film to begin this re-release plan. The film will get a wide re-release on March 15 and we are targeting at least 100 centres.”

Share