March 17 would've marked 'Jackie' fame, and late actor Puneeth Rajkumar birthday. The actor is renowned in the Kannada film industry as 'Appu'. For the unversed, Puneeth Rajkumar hails from a family of popular Kannada actors, his father being the legendary actor and producer Dr. Rajkumar.

In order to commemorate the Kannada superstar's birth anniversary, his cult classic 2010 film 'Jackie' is being re-released in theatres across Karnataka today.

'Jackie' starring Puneeth Rajkumar Re-released in theatres

The 2010 cult classic film revolves around the topic of human trafficking. Janakiram, aka Jackie, acts centrally in the plot as an aspiring real estate dealer without much work. As the film progresses, Jackie's friend, Yashoda, elopes with her lover, who turns out to be a human trafficker.

Jackie swears to find Yashoda's whereabouts after everyone believes that he assisted the pair in eloping. In the meantime, the CID is also behind Jackie for harbouring an escaped criminal.

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'Jackie' is written and directed by Duniya Suri and stars Puneeth Rajkumar in the lead role and Malayalam actress Bhavana as the female lead. Other cast members are Harshika Poonacha, Sumithra, Rangayana Raghu, Sampath Raj, Biradar, Ravi Kale, MS Umesh, Bullet Prakash, Mithra, Raju Thalikote, and Shobharaj, to name a few.

The film saw a hundred-day run in theatres and even won a South Filmfare Award for the 'Best Film' category.

Director Duniya Suri Talks About Jackie's Initial Response

In a recent interview, Jackie's director and writer, Suri, revealed that although the film was a blockbuster at the box office, its initial reception was quite the opposite.

He said that the audience didn't find Puneeth's 'too local' character appealing. In Jackie, Puneeth appears on-screen in slippers and even holding a chicken, which was a far-off depiction from his previous films.

However, as the plot of the film started to take hold in audiences' minds, Jackie's popularity grew day by day. The film earned a whopping 30 crores back in 2010 after its theatrical release. Jackie today is considered one of superstar Puneeth Rajkumar's top hits of his acting career.

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Today, after fourteen years of its initial release, Jackie is all set to hit theatres near you starting March 14. The movie will be released in 4K HD format, with improved sound quality according to today's standards.