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.
