Om Puri (born 18 October 1950) is an Indian actor who has appeared in both mainstream
Indian Cinema films as well as
art films. His credits also include appearances in British and American films. He has also received an honorary
OBE.
Early life
Om Puri was born in
Ambala,
Punjab, India and spent the early part of his life living with his maternal uncle in Sanaur,
Punjab, India. He graduated from the
Film and Television Institute of India. He is also an alumnus of the 1973 class of
National School of Drama where
Naseeruddin Shah was a co-student.
Career
Puri has worked in numerous Indian films and also in many films produced in the United Kingdom and the United States. He made his film debut in the 1976 film
Ghashiram Kotwal, a film based on a Marathi play of the same name. He has recently claimed that he is paid "peanuts" for his best work.
He has collaborated in many films with
Amrish Puri as well as Naseeruddin Shah,
Shabana Azmi and
Smita Patil in
art films such as
Bhavani Bhavai (1980),
Sadgati (1981),
Ardh Satya (1982),
Mirch Masala (1986) and
Dharavi (1992).
In the 1980s Puri also made two highly successful
Punjabi films called
Chan Pardesi (1980) and
Long Da Lishkara (1986). After nineteen years, Puri returned to Punjabi cinema with the film
Baghi (2005). He recently acted in another Punjabi film, Gurdas Mann's
Yaariyan (2008). He also had a film called east is east.
He was critically acclaimed for his performances in many unconventional roles such as a victimized tribal in
Aakrosh (1980) (a film in which he spoke not a single line of dialogue, save for during flash-back sequences), Jimmy's manager in
Disco Dancer (1982), a police inspector in
Ardh Satya (1982), where he revolts against life-long social, cultural and political persecution and for which he got the
National Film Award for Best Actor the leader of a cell of
Sikh militants in
Maachis (1996), and as a tough cop again in the commercial film
Gupt in 1997.
Puri also had a cameo in the highly acclaimed film
Gandhi (1982, directed by
Richard Attenborough). In the mid 1990s, Puri diversified to play character roles in mainstream Hindi cinema, where his roles are more tuned to mass audiences than film critics. He also became known internationally for starring in many British films such as
My Son the Fanatic (1997),
East is East (1999) and
The Parole Officer (2001). As well as these he appeared in
Hollywood films including
City of Joy (1992), opposite
Patrick Swayze;
Wolf (1994) alongside
Jack Nicholson and
The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) opposite
Val Kilmer. In 2005 he starred in the film,
The Hangman. In 2007, he appeared as General
Zia-Ul-Haq in
Charlie Wilson's War, which stars
Tom Hanks and
Julia Roberts.
He has also worked in Hindi TV serials like
Kakkaji Kaheen (1988) (roughly meaning "Uncle says") as a
paan-chewing 'Kakkaji', which was a parody on politicians and
Mr. Yogi (1989) as a suave 'Sutradhaar' who enjoys pulling the protagonist's leg. These two serials underlined Om Puri's versatility as a comedian. He also essayed comic roles in Hindi films like
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron which reached a cult status, followed by
Chachi 420 (1997),
Hera Pheri (2000),
Chor Machaye Shor (2002) and Malamaal Weekly (2006).
His more recent Hindi film roles include
Singh Is Kinng,
Mere Baap Pehle Aap and
Billu Barber.
Awards
