R.I.P. Om Puri
Om Puri died of a heart attack early this morning. He worked as a character actor for over 30 years in India, England and the USA.
Puri always brought gravitas to the screen, and was able to expertly convey his characters’ positions in the narrative through his body language, expressions, tone and delivery. Like many Indian actors of his generation, he was classically trained. He performed in productions of Shakespeare and other classics at the Film and Television Institute of India and the National School of Drama.
He most famously starred as Zaheed “George” Khan, the tyrannical patriarch of a large Pakistani/British family in the award-winning British film “East Is East”. Khan is an abusive monster, but Puri played his flaws to bring out the humanity that makes his existence (and those like him) the tragedy that it is. The character has been compared to Archie Bunker, one of TV’s most memorable and disagreeable curmudgeons.
Having grown up watching countless Indian movies, I’ll remember him as a classic “that guy”. He regularly turned in mature, standout performances. His bulbous nose and pockmarked face set him apart, and he could be equally effective as a kindly figure, a moral beacon, a tyrant, or someone struggling to make the right decision. He flashed through all of these characterizations as Commissioner Tejinder Khosla in the Indian movie “Dev” opposite the legendary Amitabh Bachchan.
A couple of weeks ago I re-watched a Hollywood movie he was in called “Charlie Wilson’s War”. Tom Hanks stars in it, alongside other stars such as Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and a pre-stardom Emily Blunt. The film is based on the true story of the USA’s funding, and subsequent abandonment, of Afghani fighters during their war against Russia in the 1980's. Om Puri portrayed Zia Ul-Haq, Pakistan’s Prime Minister during that time.
Fun fact: I was a 6-year-old on a family vacation in Karachi, Pakistan when the real Zia Ul-Haq died. From my grandmother’s veranda I saw a young man running down the street yelling “Zia Ul-Haq margaya!” (“Zia Ul-Haq is dead!”) with his fist raised in the air.
His most recent movie that I saw was 2014’s “The Hundred Foot Journey”. Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey were co-producers, and the cast included Helen Mirren. Puri played the dreamer father of a talented chef prospect who accomplished his dreams, despite considerable obstacles. Pops bagged Helen Mirren in the process too! To the end, Om Puri was doing top-shelf work.
R.I.P. to a true artist.
