Om Puri

"Ardh Satya" was a revelation, one that brought forth a phenomenonal actor to the centrestage of serious cinema. When an ace photographer opted to wield the megaphone, an actor par excellence donned the role of an upright cop to bring things in order on the Hindi cinema firmament. And he did that with élan. He continues to do that. Bringing respect to a screen inundated with bare skins and chocolate smiles has become the mission of this man and his ilk. This actor, who has never been a star, has always been there like a man with a mission to teach actors the art of acting. Among India’s finest actors, the actor in Om came alive in movies like "Ardh Satya"," Sadagati","Mirch Masala","Kurukshetra","Aastha" and many more. He played all roles with such ease that the serious cinegoer came to know what acting on screen was all about. As is natural, for an actor all the world’s a stage, and Om Puri moved on to the bigger celluloid arena with a handful of Hollywood productions. Be it as George Khan, a Pakistani patriarch living in England in "East is East" or "Pervez", the liberal-minded Pakistani taxi driver living in England who fails to understand his son's sudden alliance with a group of Islamic fundamentalists in "My Son-the Fanatic", Puri showed the world what it is to act sensibly. Om Puri as "Pervez" made the critics sit up and take note of this Indian excellence on world cinema and his on screen histrionics made them call for an encore. That was not all, even in smaller roles too he excelled, giving the main protagonists a complex. While making waves in the world cinema circuit, Om is still a big presence in Bollywood’s chocolate screens. His last film, "Dev" where he played a cop along side Big B though did not create ripples at the box-office, proved once again that he may be absent but nor forgotten. Om Puri, an actor with more than 140 films in his kitty, has never done a role not befitting his capabilities. The actor he is, he did justice to the faith the filmmakers entrust upon him. To add another feather to his cap, he has been bestowed with Order of the British Empire lately.