This October marks two years since his untimely demise Kannada star Puneeth Rajkumar And in this time, the one person who has stood strong despite his personal grief is his wife. Ashwini Puneeth RajkumarAshwini says, “I am very busy and I am happy about it because it keeps me completely busy.” She balances the responsibility of completing those projects with the responsibility of raising her two daughters. Have done, which both Ashwini and Puneet had started earlier. “Now, the difference is that all the responsibilities are on me. Every day is a new day, every day brings its own challenges. However, I have to admit here that I am enjoying my work. “It’s a good phase now,” she says. While Ashwini tells us that to date, the films she has worked on have all been projects that had her husband’s approval, her experiences over the past two years Has given them confidence and enthusiasm to take new decisions. “We are getting ready to work on one of our biggest commercial films to date young prince Playing the lead role. I’m excited but also nervous because the hardest part is making the right decision,” she says. More from Conversation:
‘It is still challenging to take the final decision alone’
The same team has been working here since day one. Yet, taking the decision yourself and making a final decision remains challenging. All the films we have released so far were approved by Appu. we still had to go on the floor Pickles and Company., when everything as we knew it changed. It was my decision whether to proceed with the execution or not. It was a huge decision because it was an all-women team. I was unsure if I was doing the right thing, but still, I wanted to see if it would work, and it worked brilliantly, and I’m happy with it. The next chapter – As of now, the films we work on and release will be entirely my decision. I am keeping my fingers crossed. This is very scary. Currently, I am working on the script and details of Yuva. He is the next promising talent of our family. I am also considering scripts to work on next year. I read or listen to at least two to three scripts every week and I hope to make at least two or three films every year.
‘We definitely need more women in cinema’
There’s a certain feeling of comfort when you see more women on set. Same thing happened with Pickles and CompanyI loved the whole process. We have had some great women directors in the last few decades. But we don’t see enough women technicians. I believe it has always been difficult for women to enter. This is not something isolated to the Kannada film industry – if this were the case, other language film industries would also have a lot more female technicians on the sets. The situation should change and we hope that it will. As far as women’s safety in the workplace is concerned, I think this is a reality that women around the world are struggling with. This is nothing special for the film industry. Every day is a challenge for women, no matter what profession they choose for themselves. Women are not safe anywhere in the world. However, for example children or the elderly also do the same. We need a safe environment for everyone. Being in my position as a leader, I see my role in cinema today as someone who creates opportunities. I believe there is enough room for everyone. I think women should support each other to create new opportunities – to ask, to listen, to be seen, and to learn.
‘The film industry has evolved and will continue to evolve’
With exposure to world cinema and a passion for presenting new perspectives on stories among so many talented newcomers, I think we have even more to explore. We are in more challenging times recently, where we do not have OTT platforms buying Kannada movies. Recently, liked movies Bhima And Krishnam Pranaya Sakhi Has helped in bringing people back to theaters to some extent. We also have experimental films that impact the minds of the audience. I think there are a lot of talented newcomers here and what we need to be able to do is provide them with the right channels and opportunities
The P in PRK Productions stands for Parvatamma, not Puneeth, as is often misunderstood. However, today it is also seen as a tribute to Puneeth
Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar
‘I hope I will be recognized for making good, content-driven films’
Earlier, I was happiest staying behind the scenes. However, today, I attended a lot of events and functions. I do this because of the goodwill that I know people have towards Appu. A lot of people tell me that they see Appu in me, and I know that’s real. Because of this, I’m a little more recognized in public, because my face is out there. However, that has never stopped me from going for a coffee at a café or darshini or anything like that. People don’t really bother me that much and I’m grateful for everyone’s love. I spend a lot of time with my nephews and daughters, talking about new content, new movies, shows we’ve watched, discussing characterization and reviewing them. They give me a whole new perspective. When I hear that a good movie has come out, I watch it at home or in a cinema hall. As a filmmaker, I just want to make films, and I hope I get recognized for making such good content-driven films. Whereas Pickles and Company Well done, I don’t want to take credit for it. I still have a long way to go and I hope I can utilize the opportunities to make such films.
‘I am proud to say that my mother-in-law was the most successful female filmmaker in the world.’
The year Appu and I got married, my mother-in-law Parvatamma Rajkumar stopped working. She was waiting for her sons to settle down before retiring. So I haven’t actually seen her work, but what I’ve heard from Appu, my in-laws and myself is that she always talked about cinema as if it was family. He talked about the times when writers, music directors, technicians, actors etc. would get together to discuss the film on which they were working for days and months. She read a lot of novels and was always wondering whether a story would work as a film. At that time he used to make only family films and it is surprising to know that 95 percent of the films he did were blockbuster hits. She was a woman producer and I can proudly say that she was the most successful in the entire world.
