Puneeth Rajkumar\'s last film \'James\' unveils first look of Kannada star

Mumbai: Kannada star Puneeth Rajkumar, who died in October last year, will be seen in the role of a soldier in his swansong "James".

The late actor's elder brother Shiva Rajkumar on Wednesday unveiled the first look of the film on the occasion of India's 73rd Republic Day.

Taking to Twitter, Shiva Rajkumar shared the poster of Puneeth's movie “James” and wrote, "Appu as James.. Happy Republic Day to all."

Puneeth Rajkumar, who was popularly known as 'Powerstar' for his strong performance in a number of commercially-successful Kannada films, passed away at the age of 46 after suffering a cardiac arrest in October 2021.

"James" is written and directed by Chethan Kumar.

The movie also stars Anu Prabhakar, Srikanth, R Sarathkumar, Tilak Shekar, and Mukesh Rishi, among others.

According to media reports, the film is set to release on March 17, coinciding with Puneeth Rajkumar's birth anniversary.

The Kannada star's last big screen release was action-thriller “Yuvarathnaa” in April 2021.

Meanwhile, streaming service Prime Video recently announced that they would release three of Puneeth's home production films -- “Man of the Match”, “One Cut Two Cut” and “Family Pack” -- directly on their platform.