Puneeth Rajkumar may no longer be with us, but Appu, as he was popularly known, lives on in the hearts of his fans across the globe. The action film James, which was released posthumously, last week, is running to packed houses.
His life size posters still adorn our streets and songs from his films continue to be on top of the musical charts. A song, ‘Ellu Hogilla Nee Ellu Hogilla Appu’, written and composed by Anitha Rangaswamy, is the latest tribute to the actor.
The song, was launched on March 16, Appu’s birth anniversary.
Tribute to the power star
“It is a musical medley, that celebrates the life and journey of our beloved Appu,” says Anitha, who does voice overs for radio. The song features the voices of singers from the Hindi and Kannada Industry. Shankar Mahadevan, Rajesh Krishnan, Anuradha Bhat, Pallavi MD, Hemanth Kumar, Chaitra H G, and Vijay Raghavendra, who is Puneeth’s cousin, have lent their voices to the song. Besides this, the song also features the works of four acclaimed musicians — Alwyn Fernandes (guitar), Akash Parva (keyboard) , Sandeep (flute) and Sarfaraz Khan (Sarangi). The video is directed by Jeevan Claude Dsouza.
Getting Shankar Mahadevan, MD Pallavi and Vijay Raghavendra to contribute to the project was easy as they have worked with her earlier, Anitha said. “They have sung some of the jingles I created in the past. Rajesh, Anuradha, Hemanth and Chaitra are my friends. So their coming together for this song was an organic process.
”The inspiration for the song came from the many who still mourned Puneeth. “People said they were still reeling from the shock of his demise. I felt I had to reverse that feeling. Death cannot kill what never dies. To me and to all Appu’s fans, he is not dead. He may not be with us physically, but, he lives on in our memories and hearts. That is what the title of the song also says, ‘you haven’t gone anywhere Appu’. ”
Anitha with Vijay Raghavendra
A huge fan of the late Dr Rajkumar, Anitha says she grew up watching every film the family acted in. “It was apt to create a song for his birthday.”
A long distance runner, Anitha currently works as a copywriter.
The passion for music, says Anitha, was always there. “It took a backseat when I lost my mother in 2020. I was lost after she was gone. One day I decided to keep her alive through music and my writing. That is how my first independent song, ‘Endigu Saladu Ninna Preethi Amma’ came into being. Sung by Vasuki Vaibhav, the song celebrated my mother, her life and love for life. I hope that this tribute song will help heal those who are still hurting from Appu’s passing.”
