After his phenomenal role of Mogambo in Mr India, Amrish Puri became a household name. He was evil personified on screen, but in real life he commands immense respect for being a thorough gentleman. With over 250 movies to his credit he has been one of the best “villains” Indian cinema has ever witnessed.
The road to an illustrious Bollywood Career:
Amrish is Bollywood actor Madan Puri’s younger brother. He was born on 22nd June, 1932 in Punjab. Following in his brother’s footsteps he auditioned to be a “hero” in Bollywood, alas he failed the screen test.
He then took to theatre; his excellent performances on stage were noticed and he began to act in TV commercials. In 1970, at the age of 40 he got his first film, Prem Pujari. The rest as they say is history.
Prominent work in Bollywood:
• Amrish played Rakka in Feroz Khan’s Qurbani (1980). He had already worked in about 30 films by then, and was quite well known on the silver screen.
• The very next year he was seen in the star studded Naseeb (1981).
• In the very powerful Shakti (1982) Amrish played the role of J K Verma, a gangster.
• He essayed the role of Pasha, a mobster, in Subhash Ghai’s Hero (1983).
• He played the role of an evil lawyer, G D Thakral, in another Subhash Ghai superhit film Meri Jung (1985).
• Mr India (1987) saw him in the role of Mogambo, an international criminal and terrorist. It was perhaps the role of his lifetime, for even today his name is synonymous with this character.
• In 1989 came another film from the Subhash Ghai camp, Ram Lakhan. Amrish played a money-thirsty Bhishambar Nath, who is involved in illegal activities from murders to extortions and so on.
• Amrish was seen playing another absolutely evil character in Tridev (1989).
• In Rakesh Roshan’s Kishen Kanhaiya (1990) he was Anil Kapoor’s step-uncle, and of course a villain.
• As the drug lord Balwant Rai in Ghayal (1990) he instilled fear in the hearts of the audience.
• In the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Ajooba (1991) he played his evil character to perfection.
• As Chuniya, he played the harbinger of misunderstanding and hatred in Saudagar (1991).
• Amrish was “Don”, head of a huge criminal empire in Phool aur Kaante (1991).
• He was the bad guy once more in the love story Deewana (1992).
• In Rajkumar Santoshi’s Damini (1993) he shone as the evil lawyer.
• He played a good cop in the critically acclaimed Gardish (1993).
• Amrish has played several roles, but the one he has played to perfection is the “evil thakur”. He performed the role of one such thakur in Karan Arjun (1995).
• As the strict Punjabi dad with rigid rules he was extremely realistic and lovable in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995). Another memorable performance.
• He was a jailor in Priyadarshan’s Kala Pani (1996), starring the popular Malayalam actor Mohanlal.
• In Ghatak (1996), he played a positive role as well as he played a villain in any of his other movies.
• He played Anil Kapoor’s father in Virasat (1997). The film did well.
• In Pardes (1997) he plays Kishorilal, an NRI whose heart belongs in India, and wants nothing more than to have his son understand the importance of being an Indian.
• Rakesh Roshan’s Koyla (1997) brought Shah Rukh Khan and Amrish Puri together once more with fantastic results.
• In the comedy Chachi 420, he plays Tabu’s father and Kamal Hassan’s father in law; a man besotted with his own riches and the idea that to be happy one must have a lot of money. He proved that he is excellent as a comedian too.
• He appeared in another Subhash Ghai film in 1999, named Taal, where he played Akshaye Khanna’s father, a stern man, but one that completely loves his son.
• He was Karishma’s father in Zubeidaa (2001).
• In Gadar (2001) he plays Amisha Patel’s father, hell bent on keeping his married daughter away from her husband and child.
• As the corrupt and powerful politician in Nayak (2001) he kept the audience engrossed throughout the film.
• He appeared as a Chief Minister in Govind Nihalani’s Dev (2004).
• In Aitraaz (2004) he was the scheming Priyanka Chopra’s much older but rich husband.
• His last film was Kachchi Sadak (2006).
Successful innings in South Indian cinema:
Amrish Puri has made his mark not just in Bollywood, but also in Telugu, Kannada and Tamil film industries as well.
Some of his better known Telugu movies are: Aakhari Poratam (1988), Jagadeka Veerudu Attilokasundari (1990), Kondaveeti Donga (1990), Aditya 369 (1991) and Ashwamedham (1992).
The Rajnikanth-Mamootty starrer Thalapathi (1991) was released in both Tamil and Hindi, while another Rajnitkanth film Baba (2002) came out in Tamil and Telegu.
In 1973 Amrish Puri was seen in a Kannada film Kaadu.
Punjabi movies:
Amrish Puri, a Punjabi, has appeared in a few Punjabi movies with Raj Babbar, like Chann Pardesi (1980) and Shaheed Uddham Singh (2000).
International acclaim:
Amrish Puri was seen in two international ventures- Hollywood’s very famous Indiana Jones series and a UK-India collaborated film.
In Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) he essayed the role of the evil high priest Mola Ram.
Richard Attenborough’s multiple award-winning film Gandhi (1982) saw Amrish Puri in the role of Khan.
Awards:
Amrish Puri has won several awards, including Filmfare Best Supporting Actor for Virasat, Ghatak, Meri Jung; Screen award for Best Supporting Actor in Virasat and Ghatak.
Outside Bollywood:
Amrish married Urmila Divekar and has two children with her- Rajeev Puri and Namrata Puri. He died of a brain hemorrhage on 12th January 2005 in Mumbai.
Did you know?
Amrish Puri was a part of the TV series Tamas.
He shaved his head for the Indiana Jones movie, and since that look was so widely appreciated, he stuck to it for a long time.
He had a huge collection of hats.
Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri
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