Mumbai: SonyLIV has acquired rights to late actor Puneeth Rajkumar’s last film “James” which will begin streaming 14 April onwards. Apart from Kannada, the film will be streaming in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Hindi.
The film will fortify SonyLIV’s regional library with the addition of Kannada language content.
Puneeth Rajkumar was a prolific Kannada actor who enjoyed a pan-India appeal and was known for his films “Power” and “Yuvarathnaa”.
Helmed and written by Chethan Kumar and produced by Kishore Pathikonda, James pairs Puneeth opposite Priya Anand. The film also stars Srikanth, Nawab Shah, Sarath Kumar, Tarak Ponnappa, John Kokken, Chikkanna, Shine Shetty, and Tilak, among others, with Puneeth’s brothers Shivarajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar appearing in cameos. Shivarajkumar also did the dubbing for his brother as he died before the commencement of the movie’s post-production.
“It is an honour to be associated with James, which not only has gripping performances but is also a testament to the outstanding and multifaceted journey of Puneeth Rajkumar on celluloid,” said Sony Pictures Networks India head of content SonyLIV and SET Ashish Golwalkar.
“He was a true genius, and we are proud to be able to bring his last feature film to his fans everywhere and help them connect with their beloved superstar. It will also boost our regional library, adding to our aim of bringing quality content that resonates with people from all parts of the country," he added.
“Directing Puneeth is a dream that only the fortunate can turn into a reality,” said director Chethan Kumar. “I consider myself extremely privileged to have gotten this opportunity. I had envisioned the film with Puneeth in mind, and it was an absolute honour to have him play James. By bringing the movie on SonyLIV, the platform is paying fitting tribute to the legendary personality that he was," he added.