- Om Puri
-
Om Puri 
Puri at the 2010 Toronto International Film FestivalBorn 18 October 1950
Ambala, Haryana, IndiaOccupation Actor Years active 1976 – present Spouse Seema Kapoor (1906–2009, divorced) Nandita Puri Om Puri (Hindi: ओम पुरी, Punjabi: ਓਮ ਪੂਰੀ, born 18 October 1950) is an Indian actor who has appeared in both mainstream Indian films and art films. His credits also include appearances in British and American films. He has received an honorary OBE.
Contents
Early life
Puri was born in Ambala, Haryana and spent the early part of his life living with his maternal uncle in Sanaur (Patiala), 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.[1]
Om Puri in 2011
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 claimed that he was paid "peanuts" for his best work.[2] 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).
He has also been active in Punjabi cinema. 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 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), as a tough cop again in the commercial film Gupt in 1997, and as the courageous father of a martyred soldier in Dhoop (2003).
In 1999, Puri acted in a Kannada movie A.K. 47 as a strict police officer who tries to keep the city safe from the underworld which went on to become a huge commercial hit. Puri's acting in the movie is very memorable. He has rendered his own voice for the Kannada dialogues. In the same year, he starred in the successful British comedy film East is East, where he played a first generation Pakistani immigrant in the north of England, struggling to come to terms with his far more westernised children.
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 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 television 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 received critical acclaim for him performance in Govind Nihalani's television film Tamas (1987) based on a Hindi novel of the same name. He also essayed comic roles in Hindi films like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro 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. Puri was seen in the role of Mohammad Ali Kasuri in Road to Sangam (2009). In 2010, he appeared in The Hangman.
Controversy
A breach of privilege notice was issued against Om Puri in the Parliament of India for allegedly making derogatory remarks against the politicians during the fast carried out by Anna Hazare for Jan Lokpal Bill at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi in August 2011.[3]
Partial filmography
Year Film Role Notes 1976 Ghashiram Kotwal Ghashiram 1977 Godhuli 1977 Bhumika 1978 Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan Marxist man 1980 Aakrosh Lahanya Bhiku Won, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award 1982 Gandhi Nahari 1982 Arohan Hari Mondal Won, National Film Award for Best Actor 1983 Ardh Satya Anant Velankar Won, National Film Award for Best Actor 1984 The Jewel in the Crown Mr De Souza TV series 1985 Mirch Masala 1990 Ghayal ACP Joe Dsouza Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor 1991 Sam & Me Chetan Parikh 1992 Maya Memsaab adaptation of Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary 1992 City of Joy Hazari Pal adaptation of Dominique Lapierre's novel 1993 In Custody Deven 1994 Wolf Dr. Vijay Alezias 1994 Drohkaal 1996 The Ghost and the Darkness Abdullah 1996 Maachis Sanatan Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor 1997 My Son The Fanatic Parvez 1997 Aastha Amar 1997 Gupt: The Hidden Truth Inspector Udham Singh Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor 1998 Such a Long Journey Ghulam Mohamed 1998 Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha Inspector Khan Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor 1999 East Is East George Khan 2000 Hey Ram Goel 2000 Hera Pheri Khadak Singh 2001 The Mystic Masseur Ramlogan 2001 Gadar: Ek Prem Katha Narrator 2001 The Parole Officer George 2002 Awara Paagal Deewana 2002 Chor Machaye Shor 2002 White Teeth Samad adaptation of White Teeth de Zadie Smith 2004 Aan: Men at Work Police commissioner Khurana 2004 Lakshya Maj. Pritam Singh 2004 Yuva Prosonjit Bhatacharya 2005 The Hangman Shiva 2005 Mumbai Xpress ACP S.P. Rao 2006 Rang De Basanti Amanullah Khan, father of Aslam 2006 Malamaal Weekly Balwant 'Balu' 2006 Chup Chup Ke Prabhat Singh Chauhan 2006 Don - The Chase Begins Again CBI Officer Vishal Malik 2007 Fool and Final father of Rahul/Raja 2008 Charlie Wilson's War Mohammed Zia, president of Pakistan 2008 Billu 2009 London Dreams Arjun's uncle 2009 Kurbaan Bhaijaan 2010 Khap Sarpanch of the village 2010 Dabangg police inspector 2010 Action Replayy Rai Bhahadur 2010 West Is West George Khan 2011 Don 2 - The Chase Continues 2011 Teen Thay Bhai Chixie Gill 2011 Agneepath Awards and nominations
- Wins
- 1981: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Aakrosh
- 1982: National Film Award for Best Actor for Arohan
- 1984: National Film Award for Best Actor for Ardh Satya
- 1984: Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Best Actor for Ardh Satya
- 1998: Brussels International Film Festival Best Actor for My Son the Fanatic
- 1990: Padmashri, India's fourth highest civilian award
- 1998: Grand Prix Special des Amériques Montréal World Film Festival for exceptional contribution to the cinematographic art
- 2004: Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to The British Film Industry
- 2009: Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
- Nominations
- 1990: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Ghayal
- 1997: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Maachis
- 1998: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Gupt: The Hidden Truth
- 1999: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha
- 2000: BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for East Is East
References
- ^ Puri, Nandita (2005-01-18). "Brothers-in-arms". Mid-Day Multimedia Ltd.. Archived from the original on 2005-02-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20050228094718/http://web.mid-day.com/columns/nadita_puri/2005/january/101724.htm. Retrieved 2005-05-27.
- ^ Jha, Subhash K (2007-12-12). ""I've been paid peanuts for my efforts"- Om Puri". Greynium Information Technologies Pvt. Ltd.. http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/features/om-puri-poorly-paid-121207.html. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
- ^ ""Ramlila remarks: Kiran Bedi, Om Puri could face 15 days in jail"". The Times of India. 2011-08-30. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-30/india/29944328_1_privilege-notice-kiran-bedi-privileges-committee. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
External links
- Om Puri at the Internet Movie Database
National Film Award for Best Actor 1968–1980 Uttam Kumar (1968) · Ashok Kumar (1969) · Utpal Dutt (1970) · Sanjeev Kumar (1971) · M. G. Ramachandran (1972) · Sanjeev Kumar (1973) · P. J. Antony (1974) · Sadhu Meher (1975) · M. V. Vasudeva Rao (1976) · Mithun Chakraborty (1977) · Bharath Gopi (1978) · Arun Mukherjee (1979) · Naseeruddin Shah (1980)
1981–2000 Balan K. Nair (1981) · Om Puri (1982) · Kamal Haasan (1983) · Om Puri (1984) · Naseeruddin Shah (1985) · Shashi Kapoor (1986) · Charuhasan (1987) · Kamal Haasan (1988) · Premji (1989) · Mammootty (1990) · Amitabh Bachchan (1991) · Mohanlal (1992) · Mithun Chakraborty (1993) · Mammootty (1994) · Nana Patekar (1995) · Rajit Kapur (1996) · Kamal Haasan (1997) · Balachandra Menon and Suresh Gopi (1998) · Ajay Devgn and Mammootty (1999) · Mohanlal (2000)
2001–present Anil Kapoor (2001) · Murali (2002) · Ajay Devgn (2003) · Vikram (2004) · Saif Ali Khan (2005) · Amitabh Bachchan (2006) · Soumitra Chatterjee (2007) · Prakash Raj (2008) · Upendra Limaye (2009) · Amitabh Bachchan (2010) · Dhanush and Salim Kumar (2011)
Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor 1955–1960 David (1955) · Abhi Bhattacharya (1956) · Motilal (1957) · Raj Mehra (1958) · Johnny Walker (1959) · Manmohan Krishna (1960)
1961–1980 Motilal (1961) · Nana Palsikar (1962) · Mehmood (1963) · Raaj Kumar (1964) · Nana Palsikar (1965) · Raaj Kumar (1966) · Ashok Kumar (1967) · Pran (1968) · Sanjeev Kumar (1969) · Pran (1970) · Feroz Khan (1971) · Amitabh Bachchan (1972) · Pran (1973) · Amitabh Bachchan (1974) · Vinod Khanna (1975) · Shashi Kapoor (1976) · Prem Chopra (1977) · Shreeram Lagoo (1978) · Saeed Jaffrey (1979) · Amjad Khan (1980)
1981–2000 Om Puri (1981) · Amjad Khan (1982) · Shammi Kapoor (1983) · Sadashiv Amrapurkar (1984) · Anil Kapoor (1985) · Amrish Puri (1986) · Not awarded (1987) · Not awarded (1988) · Anupam Kher (1989) · Nana Patekar (1990) · Mithun Chakraborty (1991) · Danny Denzongpa (1992) · Danny Denzongpa (1993) · Sunny Deol (1994) · Jackie Shroff (1995) · Jackie Shroff (1996) · Amrish Puri (1997) · Amrish Puri (1998) · Salman Khan (1999) · Anil Kapoor (2000)
2001–present Amitabh Bachchan (2001) · Akshaye Khanna (2002) · Vivek Oberoi (2003) · Saif Ali Khan (2004) · Abhishek Bachchan (2005) · Abhishek Bachchan (2006) · Abhishek Bachchan (2007) · Irrfan Khan (2008) · Arjun Rampal (2009) · Boman Irani (2010) · Ronit Roy (2011)
Complete list · (1955–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001–present)
Filmfare Award for Lifetime Achievement 1991 – 2000 Amitabh Bachchan (1991) · Dev Anand (1992) · Dilip Kumar (1993) · Lata Mangeshkar (1994) · Shammi Kapoor & Waheeda Rehman (1995) · Ashok Kumar, Sunil Dutt & Vyjayanthimala (1996) · Dharmendra, Mumtaz & Pran(1997) · Sharmila Tagore (1998) · Manoj Kumar & Helen (1999) · Vinod Khanna & Hema Malini (2000)
2001 – 2010 Feroz Khan & Asha Bhosle (2001) · Gulzar & Asha Parekh (2002) · Jeetendra (2003) · Sulochana Latkar, Nirupa Roy & B.R. Chopra (2004) · Rajesh Khanna (2005) · Shabana Azmi (2006) · Javed Akhtar & Jaya Bachchan (2007) · Rishi Kapoor (2008) · Bhanu Athaiya & Om Puri (2009) · Shashi Kapoor & Khayyam (2010)
2011 - present Manna Dey (2011)Categories:- Recipients of the Padma Shri
- 1950 births
- Film and Television Institute of India alumni
- Indian film actors
- Living people
- Filmfare Awards winners
- National Film Award winners
- National School of Drama alumni
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- Indian television actors
- Hindi film actors
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