James[6] is a 2022 Indian Kannada-language action drama film[7] written and directed by Chethan Kumar.[8] It stars Puneeth Rajkumar and Priya Anand. This is Puneeth’s posthumous appearance following his death on 29 October 2021.[9] The film marked the second collaboration between Puneeth, Priya and Sarathkumar after Raajakumara (2017).[10][11] The film score and soundtrack were composed by V. Harikrishna and Charan Raj respectively.[12]
The movie had a theatrical release on 17 March 2022 on the occasion of Puneeth Rajkumar’s birthday.[13] The film was considered it as a fitting tribute to Puneeth Rajkumar by the audience.[14] It became a blockbuster at the box office and broke the record for the biggest opening day collections for any Kannada film by grossing around ₹28 crore[15] to ₹32 crore on the first day.[16] On the 4th day of its release, it also recorded the highest single day footfalls for a Kannada movie.[17] The film grossed ₹100 crores within 4 days of release[18] and became the second highest-grossing Kannada film at the time of release[19] whilst also becoming the fastest Kannada film to gross ₹100 crores at the box office at that time[20] only to be surpassed by K.G.F: Chapter 2 in less than a month.[21] It was also the second Kannada film to gross ₹100 crores in Karnataka.[22]