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om puri

Om Puri (born 1 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

Born in Ambala, Haryana, 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).

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 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 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 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. Om Puri will be seen in the role of Mohammad Ali Kasuri in Road to Sangam, which is expected to be released in December of 2009.

Awards

• 1982: National Film Award for Best Actor Arohan
• 1981: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award Aakrosh
• 1984: National Film Award for Best Actor Ardh Satya
• 1984: Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Best Actor Ardh Satya
• 1998: Brussels International Film Festival Best Actor 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: Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to The British Film Industry
• 2009: Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award

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