Kannada Actor Puneeth Rajkumar, 46, has been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Bengaluru's Vikram hospital on Friday in a critical condition after suffering a massive heart attack.

According to a hospital statement, Puneeth Rajkumar "was brought to the emergency department, Vikram Hospital with a history of chest pain at 11:40 am, he was non-responsive and was in Cardiac  Asystole and Advanced cardiac resuscitation has been initiated."

News agency ANI cited the hospital’s Dr Ranganath Nayak as saying: "Actor Puneeth Rajkumar was admitted after suffering chest pain at 11.30 am. Trying our best to treat him. His condition is serious. Can't say anything as of now. His condition was bad when brought to hospital, treatment on in ICU.”

Puneeth became a hero with Appu (2002), after which his fans fondly called him Appu. Some of his famous films include Abhi, Veera Kannadiga, Ajay, Arasu, Raam, Hudugaru and Anjani Putra, among others. He has acted in over 29 Kannada films as the male lead. He started his career as a child artist and even won the National Film Award for Best Child Artist for his performance in Bettada Hoovu in 1985

Puneeth is the son of legendary actors Rajkumar and Parvathamma.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai reached Vikram Hospital to check on Puneeth Rajkumar.