Rajesh Gundurao breathes his last

Rajesh Gundurao, the third son of former chief minister late R Gundurao, died of brain haemorrhage on Thursday. He was 41 and is survived by wife and daughter.

He had been undergoing treatment at Manipal Hospital for the last 20 days. Rajesh was associated with JD(S) and was expected to head its youth wing.

Rajesh had made debut in Sandalwood with film Hoovu Hannu, directed by SV Rajendra Singh Babu, in 1993. Later, he had played an important role in Shiva Rajkumar-starrer Samara.
In July this year, he had tried to make a comeback to Sandalwood, after a gap of 20 years, with a Kanglish film Bangalore Calling. Apart from being a producer, he was to play a cameo role in the film.

According to director Nanjunda, the song recording of Bangalore Calling was expected to be held during the third week of September. “I am shocked to hear the news. Rajesh used to evince keen interest in Bangalore Calling. Now, I do not know what to do,’’ he added.

Recalling Rajesh’s humility and punctuality during the shooting of Hoovu Hannu, director Rajendra Singh Babu said, “It will be difficult to find a person like him in Sandalwood. He was so humble and punctual. He was gregarious with all unit members during the shooting.’’ He recalled that Rajesh had met him a month ago and informed him about his plan to produce Bangalore Calling.

Rajesh, in an interview with DNA in July, had explained how anxious he was to realise his dream of producing a film. He had also said that he was eager to act in it, but was not sure of the role and had said it would depend on the director.