BENGALURU: When Puneeth met Ashwini, no bells were ringing or violins playing. Most likely, there was the whirr of treadmills and the clang of dumbbells dropping.
The budding star met the English literature PG student at a gym in Sadashivnagar and two years later, the friends had become husband and wife.
“I liked his simplicity and helpful nature. He trusts people easily. He loves to travel and likes good friends,” Ashwini had told TOI in an interview in 2010. Puneeth, who was also part of the chat, said his wife was his first critic and gave frank opinions.
They married on December 1, 1999, after two years of courtship. The couple’s elder daughter Drithi is pursuing her undergraduate studies in New York, while the younger, Vanditha, is in Class 10.
Besides his fitness videos and health endeavours, Puneeth pitched in for social causes; it helped that his on-screen persona was of the ideal family man and citizen. The preferred choice for many social campaigns in Karnataka, he never said no. He was the brand ambassador for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’s campaign to raise awareness on the Right to Education Act for two years, from 2013. In 2014, the RTE anthem sent by the Union HRD ministry was translated into Kannada. And Puneeth and fellow actor Radhika Pandit acted in a video encouraging children to go to school.
“He was extremely down to earth and agreed to do anything for the education department. He did not charge us anything,” said an official who had worked with him at the time. In recent months, Puneeth became the brand ambassador for the Karnataka government’s campaigns on Covidappropriate behaviour and the need for vaccination.
