New Delhi: Kannada actor-producer Shiva Rajkumar is gearing up for the release of his film 'Ghost'. The film, directed by M. G. Srinivas, is a heist thriller. During the promotion of the film, the actor opened up about the untimely death of his brother and actor Puneeth Rajkumar in 2021.  


In a conversation with Indianexpress.com, the actor was asked how he’s coping with Puneeth’s death, he said, “It was very difficult. For the whole family, it was very difficult to digest because he is the youngest in our family. Especially for me, he is my little brother. He is younger to me by 13 years, so sometimes it hurts, but life should go on. We have to keep him alive with his good memories. I don’t want to go and do a pooja at his samadhi always and forget him. I want to have Appu always with me and try to show Appu in me to the people.” 


Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar, lovingly called Appu, died after suffering a heart attack on October 29, 2021. He was 46. 


In another interview with ETimes, Shiva Rajkumar spoke about his younger brother and said, “Puneeth was a very good singer and had sung four songs for my films. If he would have been alive today, he would be the happiest person. Whenever my film was released, he would watch it and we would discuss the scenes. He was a lucky charm for me." 


On the work front, the actor’s film ‘Ghost’ is releasing with Thalapathy Vijay‘s Leo. Talking about the clash, Shivarajkumar told Indianexpress.com , “It is not a clash. I don’t feel it is a clash because we are all friends. Everybody opts for the holiday as everybody wants to take advantage of the day. Same thing with us. We announced (the release of Ghost) back in July. We had to encash on the holiday time because Dussehra is for everybody. Dusshera holiday almost lasts two to three weeks, so everybody wants to take advantage of that. So, we don’t think of it as a clash. We all will get an advantage of the holidays, and every film will do fairly well.”