Kolkata, : Famous search engine Google on Saturday remembered one of the most talented and versatile actors of Bollywood, Amrish Puri, on his 87th birth anniversary.
The most renowned villain of Bollywood, Amrish Lal Puri’s appealing voice and great expressions made him a flawless actor. He mostly played negative roles and is fondly remembered for his performance as Mogambo in Mr. India..
The three times winner of Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor was one of the most iconic actors during that time.
To mark his birth anniversary, Google wrote, “ If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again—and you might end up like Indian film actor Amrish Puri, who overcame an early setback on the way to fulfilling his big screen dreams.”
Today’s Doodle by Pune-based guest artist Debangshu Moulik celebrates the life and legacy of the renowned actor, born in Punjab on this day in 1932.
Puri landed his first role at age 39 and went on to portray some of the most memorable villains in the history of Indian cinema.
The younger brother of character actors Madan Puri and Chaman Puri, Amrish auditioned for a lead role in 1954 but was rejected. After working in the theatre and doing voice over parts, he made his Bollywood debut in 1971’s Reshma Aur Shera.
A decade later, he broke into Hollywood as Khan, a supporting role in the Oscar-winning movie, Gandhi.
He was later cast as Mola Ram in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, after initially turning down director Steven Spielberg’s offer.
“Amrish is my favorite villain,” said Spielberg, who persisted until Puri said yes. “The best the world has ever produced and ever will!”
Appearing in more than 200 films in over half a dozen languages—including Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Punjabi, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, and English—Puri gave one of his most memorable performances at age 55. Playing Mogambo in the 1987 cult classic Mr. India, Puri’s deep-voiced delivery of the dastardly line “Mogambo khush hua” (“Mogambo is pleased”) would become his signature.
Through the 1970s, Puri often worked in supporting roles, usually as the henchman of the main villain. He was noticed in the 1980 super-hit movie Hum Paanch in which he played the main villain. After that, he started getting cast as the main villain in other movies. In 1982,
Puri played the main villain Jagavar Choudhary in the Subhash Ghai super-hit film Vidhaata. That same year, he again played the main villain, JK in the movie Shakti starring two legends- Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan. Next, in 1983, Subhash Ghai again cast him as the main villain, Pasha in the hit movie Hero. Puri regularly featured in subsequent Subhash Ghai films.
Puri reigned supreme in villainous roles in the 1980s and 1990s. In those decades, there was hardly any Bollywood film that did not feature Puri as a villain. His dominating screen presence and baritone voice made him stand out amongst the other villains of the day.
He is known to international audiences for his roles as Khan in Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (1982) and as the main antagonist Mola Ram in Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). He shaved his head for the role, and it created such an impression that he kept his head shaved. His bald look gave him the flexibility to experiment with different looks as a villain in subsequent movies.
In villainous roles, Puri is best remembered as “Mogambo” in Mr. India, “Jagavar” in Vidhaata, “Thakral” in Meri Jung, “Bhujang” in Tridev, “Balwant Rai” in Ghayal, Barrister Chadda in Damini and “Thakur Durjan Singh” in Karan Arjun. His comic role in Chachi 420, that he acted alongside Kamal Haasan was highly appreciated.
Since the 1990s until his death in 2005, Puri also featured in positive supporting roles in many movies. Some of his notable positive roles are Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Phool Aur Kaante, Gardish, Pardes, Virasat, Ghatak, China Gate and Mohabbatein. He received the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor award for Meri Jung and Virasat. He also worked in Hero -the spy movie along with Sunny Deol.
The actor passed away on January 12, 2005 but is still alive in the hearts of millions of people.
UNI.
