A short Tribute to OM Puri
A versatile Actor -Dramatist --Par Excellence
In morning when I came to know the shocking news of Om Puri's sad and untimely demise , I was stunned for a while . Death is a certainty no doubt, but when an apparently healthy and active person is suddenly called by the Almighty , that comes as a tragedy of epic proportion, at least for those who knew him as an actor , a gentleman and a friend .
For the first time , I came across his many splendored talents in his own theatrical production play "Bicchoo" in early 1970s staged at Prithvi Theatre. It was a laugh riot comedy and besides direction he was playing the lead character. Supporting him were such galaxy of future film actor/film makers like Satish Kaushik, Karan Razdan, Madan Jain to name a few .
I had persuaded him to agree to stage this drama's Charity Fund Raising performance for the then Lions' Club International of Kura East of which I was the then President .
Earlier to that he had worked in 2-3 Art/parallel /Regional films after passing out from NSD and FTII. Vijay Tendulkar's much acclaimed drama "Ghashiram Kotwal"s, film version in Marathi gave boost to his talents as an actor and soon he starred in his most critically acclaimed films "Akrosh" and "Ardha Satya" both made by ace film maker Govind Nihalani .
Thereafter none could stop this versatile actor to display his histrionics in HIndi, English ( UK and Hollywood films) and other Indian Regional Language films; both in parallel and main stream cinema . Besides Padma Shri , the country had bestowed on him two National awards for excellence as an actor. He also earned International critical laurels and honours in Film Festivals for his path braking performances . He was adept in performing any type of role.
We used to meet casually in Film gatherings and Film Festivals where his films used to be show cased. Besides, his separated wife Nandita Puri is known to me as a fellow Journalist and an Author of his biography.
His death has created a vacuum in movie world and all will miss him.
R I P Om Puri .
--------------------- Mohan Siroya
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