Cafe honours Puneeth with his pic on its bills

Bengaluru Cafe, located in Jayanagar, says customers love the gesture and preserve the bill

A restaurant is featuring actor Puneeth Rajkumar’s picture on its bills.

Huge banners, posters and cutouts of Puneeth can be seen across the city as a tribute to the actor, but this is the first time a restaurant is honouring him by printing his picture on its bills.

Puneeth, who starred in 36 Kannada films and ran a production house, was just 46 when he passed away on October 29.

Vikas Subramani and Varun T Gowda, owners of Bengaluru Cafe, located on 9th Cross, 9th Main, Jayanagar 2nd Block, decided to have the actor’s picture on December 29.

“This is our way of expressing how much we miss him. After much discussion with our vendors, we chose a picture that would not only print well on our thermal printer but also remain etched in the memory of people,” says Vikas, an engineer who returned from the US and set up the cafe.

Earlier, when an order was placed, the cashier would tear the bill in two and hand over one to the customer.

“Today, we don’t tear the bill because of the picture. We punch it and let the customer have the entire bill. Our restaurant has people coming from across the city and many fold it and keep it in their wallets. We also make sure that those who don’t know who Puneeth is are told about him so that they don’t throw away the bill,” explains Vikas.

With about 1,000 footfalls, the restaurant hands out about 150 bills every day. A majority of those who visit the cafe live in south Bengaluru and are fans of the Dr Rajkumar family. Basith Khan, a businessman, hasn’t seen any other restaurant come up with this idea.

“We have seen Puneeth’s pictures on digital media, but spreading awareness about him through a bill is brilliant,” says Basith, a regular at the cafe for idli and vada.

Vijay Manjunath, manager of a bank, says putting the picture on a bill is a brilliant idea. “Had this been printed on a cup, it wouldn’t have been such a hit. People don’t carry home a cup and preserve it, do they? But a bill can be preserved,” he says.

What does it make?

Bengaluru Cafe has just five items and it isn’t attached to any online food delivery app. It serves idli-vada, dosa, khara bhath and kesari bhath. The Mangaluru bajji, served between 4 and 6 pm, draws people from across the city. The navane pongal (Foxtail millet pongal) is a huge hit among diabetics. “We don’t have a fridge. Everything is cooked fresh and served then and there. Even if you walk in at 9 pm when we are just about to close, you will get steaming hot idlis that just takes six minutes to cook,” explains Vikas.