Puneeth Rajkumar was one of the rare singer-actors of his generation, following in the footsteps of his father Dr. Rajkumar. He started singing even as a child artist and many of those songs have remained hits.
He debuted as a singer when he was six with a song that has remained hummable to this day — ‘Baana Daariyalli Soorya Jaari Hoda...’ in the 1981 film Bhagyavantha . Other songs he sung during this phase include ‘Kaanadante Maayavadanu Namma Shiva’ and ‘Bisile Irali, Maleye Barali... Kaadalli Medalli Aleve...’
In his debut film as a lead actor, Appu , in 2002, he sang a peppy number, ‘Taliban Alla Alla... Bin Laden Allave Alla...’, which became a rage among the youth. He sang several songs for even other actors, including his brother Shivarajkumar, in later years. ‘Hosa Gaana Bajaana...’, a song he sung for his film Ram, was also a chartbuster.
