Kannada cinema’s much-loved power star Puneeth Rajkumar would have celebrated his 48th birthday today, March 17, had it not been for his tragic demise one-and-a-half years ago. Appu, as he was affectionately called, is remembered fondly by both industry colleagues and fans alike. His sudden and untimely death left behind a void that has still not and will probably never be filled. On the occasion of his birthday, let us take a look at the late star’s love life and how he got to be with the lady of his dreams, Ashwini.

Ashwini and Puneeth were married for twenty years. Puneeth and Ashwini came to know one another through a mutual friend. For several months, they interacted and grew close to each other. Puneeth decided that Ashwini was the one for him after they had known each other for eight months. She accepted his marriage proposal outright. Eventually, their friendship developed into love.

However, the next step was informing his parents and Puneeth was nervous about talking about it to his father, Dr Rajkumar.

In a Metro Life interview, Puneeth acknowledged that he was not so open with his father and never talked to him freely about things like love and romance. “It was the first time I had stood in front of my father and expressed my desire to wed the woman I loved. After that, he asked me to notify my mother, and soon after, everything fell into place,” Puneeth had said.

Ashwini was happily welcomed into Puneeth’s family. But initially, Ashwini’s family was a little hesitant as they did not want their daughter to get married into a film family. According to reports, they were not easily persuaded and took a while to give their consent. Puneeth and Ashwini, however, refused to back down. After six months, Ashwini’s family finally agreed.

On December 1, 1999, Puneeth Rajkumar and Ashwini Revanth got married in a lavish ceremony.

Meanwhile, Puneeth’s last screen appearance, the documentary named Gandhada Gudi starts streaming today on Amazon Prime Video on the occasion of his birthday.

Read all the Latest Movies News here