A giant who traversed East and West

A giant of parallel and new wave cinema, Om Puri delivered some stellar performances in ‘Ardh Satya,’ ‘Aakrosh’ and ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron’ while being equally at home with Bollywood potboilers and Hollywood movies such as ‘East Is East’ and ‘City of Joy’.

With his instantly recognisable rich baritone and chameleon-like ability to transform on-screen, 66-year-old Puri was at ease playing an angst-laden police officer in ’Ardh Satya’ to the comic role of a corrupt builder Ahuja in ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’.

He was the major face of the parallel cinema movement alongside his contemporaries Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil, working collectively in some of the biggest Indian classics like ‘Bhumika,’ ‘Aakrosh,’ ‘Sparsh,’ ‘Bhavni Bhavai,’ ‘Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai,’ ‘Mirch Masala,’ ‘Sadgati,’ ’Ardh Satya’ and ‘Mandi’.

The actor, who starred in around 300 movies, won the National Film Award for best actor for his role as a police inspector in the 1982 film ‘Ardh Satya’. He also received the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India in the year 1990.

After the end of art cinema movement, Puri shifted to mainstream cinema where he did memorable character roles while continuing to give noteworthy performances in films like ‘Vijeta,’ ‘Ghayal,’ ‘Droh Kaal,’ ‘Maachis,’ ‘Chachi 420,’ ‘Khoobsurat,’ ‘Pukar’ and ‘Hera Pheri.’

Puri was a familiar figure in British cinema due to his roles in films such as Udayan Prasad’s ‘My Son The Fanatic’ (1997), Damien O’Donnell’s ‘East Is East’ (1999) - for which he was BAFTA-nominated - and its sequel ‘West Is West,’ directed by Andy De Emmony in 2010.

His roles in US and UK films also included Roland Joffe’s ‘City Of Joy’ (1992), Mike Nichols’ ‘Wolf’ (1994), Stephen Hopkins’ ‘The Ghost And The Darkness’ (1996), John Duigan’s ‘The Parole Officer’ (2001), alongside Steve Coogan, and ‘Charlie Wilson’s War’ (2007), also directed by Nichols.

One of his first Western roles was in 1984 Granada TV mini-series ‘The Jewel In The Crown’ and he also appeared in ‘Gandhi,’ co-produced by Goldcrest and the NFDC, alongside Ben Kingsley in 1982.

Puri had appeared in the 2015 Salman Khan movie ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’. He played the part of a progressive imam, who protects Bajrangi and Munni from the Pakistani security forces and offers them refuge at the madrassa he teaches in.

After ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan,’ he teamed up with Salman and Kabir Khan again in ‘Tubelight,’ which is expected to release on Eid 2017. He had recently completed filming a role in Gurinder Chadha’s upcoming ‘Viceroy’s House,’ alongside Gillian Anderson, Michael Gambon and Hugh Bonneville.