The film ‘James,’ starring late Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar, was released in theatres on March 17. The film, which had a strong pre-sale in Karnataka, reportedly made over 100 crores in just four days, according to the film’s producers.
On the first day of its release, the film was shown on 4000 screens in five languages, commemorating Puneeth’s birth anniversary. The film is being dubbed in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, and Hindi, in addition to the Kannada original. In Karnataka alone, the film was released in 400 theatres.
Chethan Kumar of ‘Bahaddur’ fame directed the film, which was Puneeth Rajkumar’s final commercial venture as a lead actor. Priya Anand, Anu Prabhakar Mukherjee, Srikanth Meka, Sarath Kumar, and others also appear in the film. Kishore Pathikonda produced the film, and Charan Raj composed the music. Shivarajkumar, Puneeth’s brother, provided the voice for Puneeth’s role in the film.
Following the actor’s terrible death in October of 2020, the experienced actor was forced to come in at the last minute to dub for the character. Shivarajkumar and his younger brother Raghavendra Rajkumar both make cameo appearances in the film.
Trade analyst Manobala Vijayabalan took to Twitter and wrote, “#James ZOOMS past Rs 100 cr gross mark. Also, The film achieved the record of highest single-day footfalls for any movie in 88 years of history of Kollywood.
The Kannada superstar died on October 29, 2021, after suffering from cardiac arrest. Puneeth’s sudden death has left everyone in shock leaving his fans, friends, and colleagues all grieving.