Born in Ambala and educated at the National School of Drama and the Film and Television Institute of India, Om Puri used the remarkable range of expressions he could convey, from impotent rage to blazing menace to comic exasperation
“Marne se phele mere baal dye kar dena. I want to die young”, said Om Puri with his apt comic timing in one of his movies. Giving a cracking laugh to being a serious cop fighting the corrupts, Om Puri was the actor who made average a new elite in cinema. Unfortunately, Indian cinema lost its finest gem on Friday morning. Regarded as the most critically and commercially acclaimed actors, his contribution to not just Indian cinema but the world cinema has been phenomenal.
His craggy, pockmarked but distinctive face may have kept him from becoming a leading man in films but Om Puri used the remarkable range of expressions he could convey, from impotent rage to blazing menace to comic exasperation, along with his trademark baritone, to elevate the common man as a film’s pivot.
Born in Ambala and educated at the National School of Drama and the Film and Television Institute of India, Puri initially wanted to be a soldier, according to his biography by his wife, Nandita Puri, but was attracted to the arts while studying at Khalsa College in Patiala in 1967. At the NSD, under the tutelage of Ebrahim Alkazi, Puri began to display the talent that made him one of the greatest Indian performers of his generation. His entry into the Film and Television Institute of India was championed by director and playwright Girish Karnad, who recommended him to BV Karanth for the children's film Chor Chor Chhup Jaaye in 1975 for what would be his first screen appearance.
Will we remember him for his depiction of the victimised tribal of Aakrosh (1980), conveying his anguished helplessness by facial expressions till the very last shocking scene when he finally opens his mouth in a loud protest, the hapless policeman in Ardh Satya (1982), the enthusiastic poetry-lover in In Custody/Muhafiz (1993) or sinister terrorist Sanatan in Maachis (1996).
Or will we prefer to remember him in another light, as suspicious secretary Banwari lal in Chachi 420 (1998), the jovial and kind but dutiful Inspector Khan in Pyar To Hona Hi Tha (1997) or determined Inspector Udham Singh in Gupt (1997). Then there is also his portrayal of British-Pakistani George Khan, who is loving but can be authoritarian and abusive towards his mixed family in East Is East (1999).