Amrish Puri

Amrish Puri (22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005) was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Indian cinema and theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himself as one of the most popular and iconic actors in Indian cinema. Puri is remembered for playing various roles in a variety of film genres, especially iconic villainous roles in Hindi cinema, as well as international cinema. He reigned supreme in villainous roles in the 1980s and 1990s, when his dominating screen presence and distinctive deep voice made him stand out amongst the other villains of the day. Puri was active in both art cinema such as in some of Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani's films as well as in mainstream cinema. Puri won three Filmfare Awards for Best Supporting Actor in eight nominations. He also holds most Filmfare Award for Best Villain nominations.

While he predominantly worked in Hindi-language films, he had also appeared in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Marathi language films. Puri played some of most remembered villainous roles in '' Vidhaata'' (1982), ''Shakti'' (1982), ''Hero'' (1983), '' Meri Jung'' (1985), '' Nagina'' (1986), '' Mr. India'' (1987), '' Shahenshah'' (1988), '' Ram Lakhan'' (1989), '' Tridev'' (1990), '' Ghayal'' (1990), '' Saudagar'' (1991)'', Thalapathi'' (1991), '' Tahalka'' (1992), ''Damini'' (1993), '' Karan Arjun'' (1995), '' Kaalapani'' (1996), '' Jeet'' (1996), ''Koyla'' (1997), '' Baadshah'' (1999)'', Gadar: Ek Prem Katha'' (2001), and '' Nayak: The Real Hero'' (2001)''. ''His notable Telugu films include '' Kondaveeti Donga'' (1988), '' Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari'' (1990), and '' Aditya 369'' (1991). Puri's performance of the main antagonist Mogambo from Shekhar Kapurs Mr. India ''(1987) is considered as one of greatest villains of all time in Indian cinema.' It was reported that he received a salary of ₹1 crore (US$771,890)'', ''making him the highest-paid Indian villain actor of all time. His comic role in ''Chachi 420'', that he acted alongside Kamal Haasan was well received by critics.

Puri was a highly prolific actor; he also featured in positive supporting roles, of which he won 3 times Filmfare Awards for Best Supporting Actor. Some of his notable positive roles are '' Phool Aur Kaante'' (1991), '' Gardish'' (1993), '' Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge'' (1995), '' Ghatak'' (1996), '' Diljale'' (1996) '' Pardes'' (1997), '' Virasat'' (1997), '' China Gate'' (1998), ''Badal'' (2000), '' Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai'' (2001), ''Mujhse Shaadi Karogi'' (2004) and '' Hulchul'' (2004). To foreign audiences, he is best known as Mola Ram in the Steven Spielberg and George Lucas' Hollywood film ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' (1984) and in Richard Attenborough's ''Gandhi'' (1982) as Dada Abdulla Hajee Adab, President of the Natal Indian Congress.

Early life

Amrish Lal Puri was born in a Punjabi Hindu family in Nawanshahr, Punjab, to Lala Nihal Chand and Ved Kaur. He had four siblings, elder brothers Chaman Puri and Madan Puri (both of whom were also actors), elder sister Chandrakanta, and a younger brother, Harish Puri. He was the first cousin of the actor and singer K. L. Saigal.

Career

Puri acted in more than 450 films between 1967 and 2005, most of which were commercially successful, and was one of the most successful villains in Bollywood. Yet, his early years were marked by relentless struggle and he was nearly fifty years of age before he first played a leading character (as main villain) in a film.

Puri's family had some film connections. The singer and actor K. L. Saigal, one of the pioneers of Indian cinema, was Puri's first cousin. Enamoured by the fame of their cousin, Puri's older brothers, Chaman Puri and Madan Puri, had moved to Mumbai in the 1950s to try their luck in films and had found work as character actors. Puri likewise came to Mumbai in the mid-1950s to try his luck, but failed his first screen test. He however managed to land a stable job with the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), a government organization, and indulged his hobby of acting by becoming part of an amateur ''natak mandali'' or stage group. His group often performed at the Prithvi Theatre in plays written by Satyadev Dubey. He eventually became well known as a stage actor and even won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1979. This theatre recognition soon led to work in television advertisements and eventually to films at the relatively late age of 40 (forty).

This was in the early 1970s, and he hardly had a dialogue to utter in his first few films, which is remarkable, because his baritone voice was to be his source of fame in later years. These bit appearances were still counted a hobby, since he continued with his government job in order to support his family. Throughout the 1970s, Puri worked in supporting roles, usually as the henchman of the main villain. The super-hit movie '' Hum Paanch'' (1980) was the first film in which he played the main villain. His acting performance, personality and voice were all noticed and duly appreciated in this film. After that, he started getting cast as the main villain in other movies. Puri went on to work in Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil and even Hollywood films. His main field was, of course, Hindi cinema.

In 1982, Puri played the main villain, Jagavar Choudhary in the Subhash Ghai super-hit film '' Vidhaata''. That year, he again played the main villain, JK in the movie ''Shakti'' co-starring Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan. Next, in 1983, Ghai again cast him as the main villain, Pasha, in the hit movie ''Hero''. Puri regularly featured in subsequent Ghai films.

He is known to international audiences for his roles as the main antagonist

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases