His performances as a child actor in Vasantha Geetha (1980), Bhagyavantha (1981), Chalisuva Modagalu (1982), Eradu Nakshatragalu (1983), Bhakta Prahaladha (1983), Yarivanu (1984) and Bettada Hoovu (1985) were praised.

He appeared as a lead actor in many commercially successful films such as Appu (2002), Abhi (2003), Aakash (2005), Arasu (2007), Milana (2007), Vamshi (2008), Raam (2009), Jackie (2010), Hudugaru (2011), Power (2014),Raajakumara (2017), Natasaarvabhowma (2019), Yuvarathnaa (2021) and James (2022).

His last silver screen appearance, the docu-drama Gandhada Gudi where he played himself, was released on 28 October 2022 coincidentally marking his first death anniversary.

[citation needed] Director V. Somashekar cast Puneeth (then known as Lohith) onscreen when he was six months old in his thriller film Premada Kanike (1976).

This was followed by K. S. L. Swamy's mythological drama Bhoomige Banda Bhagavantha (1981, appearing as Lord Krishna) and B. S. Ranga's Bhagyavantha (1982),[17] in which he recorded his first popular song: "Baana Daariyalli Soorya", composed by T. G. Lingappa.

His biggest break as a child actor came in the 1985 drama Bettada Hoovu, directed by N. Lakshminarayan and based on Shirley L. Arora's novel What Then, Raman?

[22] The musical by Gurukiran, directed by Puri Jagannadh and produced by Parvathamma Rajkumar, in which he played a college boy, was a box office success and critics praised his dancing skills.

The film, written by Puri Jagannadh, was simultaneously made in Telugu as Andhrawala with N. T. Rama Rao Jr. in the lead role.

Mahesh Babu's Aakash reunited Puneeth with Ramya (from Abhi) and he appeared in Veera Shankar's action film Namma Basava, with Gowri Munjal.

[27] Puneeth's first release in 2007 was his production Arasu, directed by Mahesh Babu, in which he played an expatriate businessman who renounces his wealth for the woman he loves.

In 2011, Puneeth co-starred in K. Madesh's Hudugaru, a remake of the Tamil film Nadodigal[33] in which he reprised M. Sasikumar's role in the original.

Although his performance as a New York-based adventure enthusiast based in New York was praised by critics,[38] the film was unsuccessful at the box office.

[40] Puneeth's other release that year was Pawan Wadeyar's Rana Vikrama, an action film with Adah Sharma and Anjali.

[citation needed] In March 2016, Puneeth worked for M. Saravanan's Chakravyuha and Duniya Soori's Doddmane Hudga.

After his demise, many recalled how he had, true to his style, readily agreed to be the face of the state-run organisation and refused to take any money for the same.

According to reports, he used to consistently sponsor the fees of thousands of students every year, and used to also financially assist many Kannada-medium schools in the state.

In 2013, when the state government was finding several seats vacant in the Right to Education (RTE) quota, they roped in Puneeth and Radhika Pandit as brand ambassadors to spread awareness about the legislation through a series of newspaper and TV advertisements.

Speaking to the Times of India, Higher Education Minister CN Ashwatha Narayana said that Puneeth readily agreed to the proposal.

[47] K. Saurabh, who secured 260th rank in the UPSC Exams of 2023 had revealed that Puneeth's 2010 movie Prithvi to be his inspiration to be a civil servant.

In addition to this, Puneeth also donated Rs 50 lakh to Chief Minister's Relief Fund in March 2020, amid the first wave of COVID-19 infections.

[47] Puneeth was involved in philanthropy with his mother at the Shakti Dhama ashram in Mysore,[50] and owned the Bengaluru Royals, Premier Futsal team.

[54] Puneeth Rajkumar has sung a song "Kanna Sanne Indhalene" for Akira movie which was composed by B. Ajaneesh Loknath.

The success of second season was cited as a prime reason for Suvarna channel replacing Udaya TV from the top slot for the first time in 19 years.

[62][63] Puneeth was a brand ambassador for Karnataka Milk Federation's Nandini Milk products, LED Bulb Project,[64] 7 Up (PepsiCo), F-Square, Dixcy Scott, Malabar Gold and Diamonds,[65] Gold Winner,[66] Ziox Mobile,[67] Pothys, Flipkart and Manappuram,[68] and was a brand ambassador of the Indian Premier League cricket team Royal Challengers Bangalore.

[76] The Chief Minister appealed to the people to pay homage and respect to Puneeth by behaving with self-restraint and not giving room for any untoward incidents due to emotional outbursts.

Offices and shops in Bangalore were shut down on Friday, an unofficial bandh was declared and police were brought in to control swarming crowds of fans in anticipation of violence after Puneeth died.

Many celebrities, including his close friends and co-actors from the Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu film industries arrived to pay their respects.

But owing to the swerving crowd, the Karnataka government announced on Saturday that the cremation would be held on Sunday morning and the timings would be decided later.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that the decision was taken as large crowds were still waiting to pay their last respects to their favorite actor.

Vehicles of film stars and even those of the police had a tough time navigating the crowd outside Kanteerava Stadium in central Bangalore.