Bollywood Masala Mix
Actor Om Puri who rose with the Indian new wave, dies at 66
Om Puri, one of the most acclaimed Indian actors of his generation, whose four-decade career included appearances in well-received British and American films, died on Friday January 6 at his home in Mumbai. He was 66.
His wife, Nandita C. Puri, said the cause was cardiac arrest.
Mr. Puri appeared in some 300 films, most of them in India. He was known in the West mainly for his roles in the hit British comedy “East Is East” (1999), for which he received a Bafta (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) award nomination, and “My Son, the Fanatic” (1997), in which he played a Pakistani-born taxi driver in industrial North England.
In her review of “My Son” in The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote that Mr. Puri had made his character the center of the film “through sheer force of personality.”
He also had small roles in “Gandhi” (1982), the Mike Nichols horror film “Wolf” (1994) and the historical thriller “The Ghost and the Darkness” (1996).
Mr. Puri first attained widespread acclaim in the 1980s during the so-called Indian new wave, when screenwriters and directors, steeped in world cinema, were devoting themselves to socially conscious themes, often dealing with the lives of India’s oppressed classes.
He sought to bring nuance to his roles, as he explained in a 2000 interview with The Times about his work in “East Is East” as the patriarch of a large Pakistani family, a performance praised by critics for its depth.
“I look for subtext,” he said, “the hidden script within the script.”
Mr. Puri’s broad-nosed face — marked by a childhood case of smallpox — was not the stuff of Bollywood heroes. When he auditioned for the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India in the 1970s, the committee debated where he might fit in the industry, remarking that he had the face “neither of a hero, nor a villain, nor a comedian,” his wife, a journalist, wrote in “Unlikely Hero” (2009), a biography of Mr. Puri.
But that face became a key to his success. With the Indian new wave focusing on social issues and common people, it opened up opportunities for him.
His first meaty role was in “Aakrosh” (1980), as a man who is wrongly accused of killing his wife but who refuses to speak to his lawyer. Mr. Puri spent nearly the entire film mute.
“Nobody but Om Puri could have played it with so much expression,” Anjum Rajabali, a screenwriter and close friend, said in a phone interview. “Every time you look at his face you know what he is feeling.”
Mr. Puri was born on Oct. 18, 1950, in Ambala, then part of Punjab State in north India, the last of nine children born to a junior railway officer. Among his siblings, only his elder brother Ved survived into his adulthood. The family struggled to make ends meet, and Mr. Puri was sent to live with his mother’s brothers in Sanaur, so that they could take care of his education.
He studied at Khalsa College in Patiala and at the National School of Drama in New Delhi, where he performed in Hindi-language productions of “Hamlet” (in the title role) and of plays by Ibsen, Brecht and Shaw.
His performance as a Bombay policeman who succumbs to corruption in the 1983 film “Ardh Satya” (“Half Truth”) was the turning point in his career. The film was both a critical and box-office success and brought him fame.
“For the first time, commercial filmmakers woke up and took notice of me,” Mr. Puri was quoted as saying in the biography.
As the Indian new wave faltered at the box office in the late 1990s, Mr. Puri increasingly took on small roles in commercial Hindi films that were “not appropriate to what his persona on the screen was,” Mr. Rajabali said.
Pritish Nandy, a writer and politician in Mumbai, posted on Twitter that Mr. Puri had “spent the best years of his life disappointed, waiting for roles he deserved but never got.”
He had personal troubles as well. His friend and fellow actor Anupam Kher said in a remembrance published in the newsmagazine India Today that Mr. Puri had died a “lonely death.”
After the release of his biography in 2009, Indian newspapers were awash with reports of tensions between him and his wife, partly because, as he said in an interview with The Times of India, he was unhappy about details she revealed about his early sexual history.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Ishaan.
Mr. Puri was philosophical about his disappointments.
“I, frankly, don’t dream, because I want to remain happy,” he told The Times. “When you dream too much and the dream doesn’t come true, you hurt yourself. And I don’t want to hurt myself. So I don’t dream. I take things as they are.”
His wife, Nandita C. Puri, said the cause was cardiac arrest.
Mr. Puri appeared in some 300 films, most of them in India. He was known in the West mainly for his roles in the hit British comedy “East Is East” (1999), for which he received a Bafta (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) award nomination, and “My Son, the Fanatic” (1997), in which he played a Pakistani-born taxi driver in industrial North England.
In her review of “My Son” in The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote that Mr. Puri had made his character the center of the film “through sheer force of personality.”
He also had small roles in “Gandhi” (1982), the Mike Nichols horror film “Wolf” (1994) and the historical thriller “The Ghost and the Darkness” (1996).
Mr. Puri first attained widespread acclaim in the 1980s during the so-called Indian new wave, when screenwriters and directors, steeped in world cinema, were devoting themselves to socially conscious themes, often dealing with the lives of India’s oppressed classes.
He sought to bring nuance to his roles, as he explained in a 2000 interview with The Times about his work in “East Is East” as the patriarch of a large Pakistani family, a performance praised by critics for its depth.
“I look for subtext,” he said, “the hidden script within the script.”
Mr. Puri’s broad-nosed face — marked by a childhood case of smallpox — was not the stuff of Bollywood heroes. When he auditioned for the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India in the 1970s, the committee debated where he might fit in the industry, remarking that he had the face “neither of a hero, nor a villain, nor a comedian,” his wife, a journalist, wrote in “Unlikely Hero” (2009), a biography of Mr. Puri.
But that face became a key to his success. With the Indian new wave focusing on social issues and common people, it opened up opportunities for him.
His first meaty role was in “Aakrosh” (1980), as a man who is wrongly accused of killing his wife but who refuses to speak to his lawyer. Mr. Puri spent nearly the entire film mute.
“Nobody but Om Puri could have played it with so much expression,” Anjum Rajabali, a screenwriter and close friend, said in a phone interview. “Every time you look at his face you know what he is feeling.”
Mr. Puri was born on Oct. 18, 1950, in Ambala, then part of Punjab State in north India, the last of nine children born to a junior railway officer. Among his siblings, only his elder brother Ved survived into his adulthood. The family struggled to make ends meet, and Mr. Puri was sent to live with his mother’s brothers in Sanaur, so that they could take care of his education.
He studied at Khalsa College in Patiala and at the National School of Drama in New Delhi, where he performed in Hindi-language productions of “Hamlet” (in the title role) and of plays by Ibsen, Brecht and Shaw.
His performance as a Bombay policeman who succumbs to corruption in the 1983 film “Ardh Satya” (“Half Truth”) was the turning point in his career. The film was both a critical and box-office success and brought him fame.
“For the first time, commercial filmmakers woke up and took notice of me,” Mr. Puri was quoted as saying in the biography.
As the Indian new wave faltered at the box office in the late 1990s, Mr. Puri increasingly took on small roles in commercial Hindi films that were “not appropriate to what his persona on the screen was,” Mr. Rajabali said.
Pritish Nandy, a writer and politician in Mumbai, posted on Twitter that Mr. Puri had “spent the best years of his life disappointed, waiting for roles he deserved but never got.”
He had personal troubles as well. His friend and fellow actor Anupam Kher said in a remembrance published in the newsmagazine India Today that Mr. Puri had died a “lonely death.”
After the release of his biography in 2009, Indian newspapers were awash with reports of tensions between him and his wife, partly because, as he said in an interview with The Times of India, he was unhappy about details she revealed about his early sexual history.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Ishaan.
Mr. Puri was philosophical about his disappointments.
“I, frankly, don’t dream, because I want to remain happy,” he told The Times. “When you dream too much and the dream doesn’t come true, you hurt yourself. And I don’t want to hurt myself. So I don’t dream. I take things as they are.”
Tess Joseph is searching the cafe for an adorable noun. "He looked like a small...," she trails off, struggling to describe the pint-sized star of the film 'Lion' who had Twitter cooing when he arrived onstage at the Golden Globes with co-actor Dev Patel, both dressed in matching bow-ties and tuxedoes. "Pocket of sunshine," the casting director finally says about Sunny Pawar, her eight-year-old find from Mumbai, who almost outshone actress Meryl Streep's anti-Trump speech in the applause department. Though the Disney film did not win an award, that standing ovation made Joseph's four-month long treasure hunt — involving over 2,000 kids, 50 schools and three cities — worth it.
Ever since 'Lion' – which tells the true story of Saroo Brierley who goes missing as a kid, is adopted by a couple in Australia and later sets off to find his roots – started marinating in Oscar buzz in November last year, the press has been after Joseph for a possible "Slumdog angle" behind Pawar. "But there is no such story to him," says Mumbai-based Joseph, careful not to divulge too much about the boy before the film's official release in India even as she prepares to fly to Los Angeles this week along with Lion's Australian casting director Kirsty Mc Gregor for the Casting Society of America's (CSA) awards ceremony. In a first for an Indian casting, the CSA has nominated the drama film for best casting. "The best part of being a casting director," says Joseph, whose workshop footage showed Pawar lifting a bicycle twice his size, "is to be able to show the director the first glimpse of his vision." For the film, Joseph followed her unconventional, meticulous trademark search template.
Just as they scanned 400 schools across the North East while casting for the film 'Sold', which was about child trafficking, Joseph and her team of assistants indulged kids in schools across Mumbai, Delhi and Pune in games to help filmmaker Garth Davis find the shy Pawar in a school in Mumbai. It was Pawar's ability to "react rather than act" that made Joseph curious. Joseph often tends to surprise teachers by picking the quiet ones. "I was myself a mouse in school," says Joseph.
With his soulful eyes and husky voice, Pawar, then 6, seemed to fit well into the slippers of the protagonist Saroo — who, incidentally, belonged to an orphanage "that is right next to my Calcutta house," says the casting director, who is originally from Calcutta, referring to a coincidence that made the process special.
To prepare the 6-year-old who didn't know English, the crew of 'Lion' had even created a children's book version of the film. "He was quite internal, quite quiet, but independent and strong," said filmmaker Davis in a recent interview about Pawar, who will now be starring in a Hollywood film titled 'Love Sonia'.
Patience, says Joseph, is key when it comes to casting kids. "You must give kids at least three chances to open up," says Joseph, speaking through experience as the director and producer of Bournvita Quiz Contest, and now producer of the global campaign for girl education 'Girl Rising India'. "You can't pre-judge them in a room," adds Joseph, who has heard local directors dismiss kids superficially for being too "pudgy". Her sensibility stems in part from the fact that her casting journey began with director Mira Nair. "She believes in looking for the right person rather than the right actor," says Joseph.
The importance of preserving childhood on set has been her biggest takeaway from working on foreign films. It was on 'West is West' that she first watched a boy being tutored and finishing his holiday homework on set. "The kid never stopped being a kid." This is perhaps why Joseph loved it when in a recent interview, Pawar was asked what the most memorable part of working in a foreign film was and he said: "Chocolate."
Ever since 'Lion' – which tells the true story of Saroo Brierley who goes missing as a kid, is adopted by a couple in Australia and later sets off to find his roots – started marinating in Oscar buzz in November last year, the press has been after Joseph for a possible "Slumdog angle" behind Pawar. "But there is no such story to him," says Mumbai-based Joseph, careful not to divulge too much about the boy before the film's official release in India even as she prepares to fly to Los Angeles this week along with Lion's Australian casting director Kirsty Mc Gregor for the Casting Society of America's (CSA) awards ceremony. In a first for an Indian casting, the CSA has nominated the drama film for best casting. "The best part of being a casting director," says Joseph, whose workshop footage showed Pawar lifting a bicycle twice his size, "is to be able to show the director the first glimpse of his vision." For the film, Joseph followed her unconventional, meticulous trademark search template.
Just as they scanned 400 schools across the North East while casting for the film 'Sold', which was about child trafficking, Joseph and her team of assistants indulged kids in schools across Mumbai, Delhi and Pune in games to help filmmaker Garth Davis find the shy Pawar in a school in Mumbai. It was Pawar's ability to "react rather than act" that made Joseph curious. Joseph often tends to surprise teachers by picking the quiet ones. "I was myself a mouse in school," says Joseph.
With his soulful eyes and husky voice, Pawar, then 6, seemed to fit well into the slippers of the protagonist Saroo — who, incidentally, belonged to an orphanage "that is right next to my Calcutta house," says the casting director, who is originally from Calcutta, referring to a coincidence that made the process special.
To prepare the 6-year-old who didn't know English, the crew of 'Lion' had even created a children's book version of the film. "He was quite internal, quite quiet, but independent and strong," said filmmaker Davis in a recent interview about Pawar, who will now be starring in a Hollywood film titled 'Love Sonia'.
Patience, says Joseph, is key when it comes to casting kids. "You must give kids at least three chances to open up," says Joseph, speaking through experience as the director and producer of Bournvita Quiz Contest, and now producer of the global campaign for girl education 'Girl Rising India'. "You can't pre-judge them in a room," adds Joseph, who has heard local directors dismiss kids superficially for being too "pudgy". Her sensibility stems in part from the fact that her casting journey began with director Mira Nair. "She believes in looking for the right person rather than the right actor," says Joseph.
The importance of preserving childhood on set has been her biggest takeaway from working on foreign films. It was on 'West is West' that she first watched a boy being tutored and finishing his holiday homework on set. "The kid never stopped being a kid." This is perhaps why Joseph loved it when in a recent interview, Pawar was asked what the most memorable part of working in a foreign film was and he said: "Chocolate."
'Dangal' swept away three of the top four awards at the 62nd Jio Filmfare Awards 2017. Aamir Khan won the Best Actor (Male) Award for his role of wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat in 'Dangal'. Alia Bhatt, who was nominated for two films - 'Udta Punjab' and 'Dear Zindagi', picked up the award in the Best Actor (Female) category for her performance in the former film. Alia played the role of a Bihari migrant, who unfortunately finds herself caught in the vicious web of drug addiction and human trafficking in Punjab.
Sridevi and husband Boney Kapoor presented the award to her. In her acceptance speech, the actress said that the award was very close to her heart and thanked 'Udta Punjab' co-star Shahid Kapoor for sending over the script to her. Alia got very emotional about her second Filmfare award.
While Aamir was conspicuous by his absence, 'Dangal' director Nitesh Tiwari picked up the award on his behalf from the gorgeous Rekha.
The night's biggest honour, the Best Film award went out to 'Dangal'. In the Best Director category too, it was the wrestling drama that came out on top as director Nitesh Tiwari clinched the award. The film that released late last year is still breaking records at the box-office and has won the nation's hearts.
Style icon and outspoken actress Sonam Kapoor finally got her hands on the Black Lady. The 31-year-old diva earned the award after being nominated for four times in the past. Sonam won the award in the Best Actor Female (Critics Choice) category for 'Neerja' at the 62nd Jio Filmfare Awards 2017.
Director Aanand L Rai, who collaborated with Sonam in 'Raanjhanaa', presented the award to her. After receiving the award, an emotional Sonam thanked Neerja Bhanot's family and declared that she is proud to be Anil Kapoor's daughter. The actress played the slain 23-year-old flight attendant in the film based on Bhanot's life.
Rounding out the Critics Choice Awards were Shahid Kapoor and Manoj Bajpayee who jointly won the Best Actor Male for 'Udta Punjab' and 'Aligarh' respectively.
'Neerja' won the Critics Choice Award for Best Film.
Sridevi and husband Boney Kapoor presented the award to her. In her acceptance speech, the actress said that the award was very close to her heart and thanked 'Udta Punjab' co-star Shahid Kapoor for sending over the script to her. Alia got very emotional about her second Filmfare award.
While Aamir was conspicuous by his absence, 'Dangal' director Nitesh Tiwari picked up the award on his behalf from the gorgeous Rekha.
The night's biggest honour, the Best Film award went out to 'Dangal'. In the Best Director category too, it was the wrestling drama that came out on top as director Nitesh Tiwari clinched the award. The film that released late last year is still breaking records at the box-office and has won the nation's hearts.
Style icon and outspoken actress Sonam Kapoor finally got her hands on the Black Lady. The 31-year-old diva earned the award after being nominated for four times in the past. Sonam won the award in the Best Actor Female (Critics Choice) category for 'Neerja' at the 62nd Jio Filmfare Awards 2017.
Director Aanand L Rai, who collaborated with Sonam in 'Raanjhanaa', presented the award to her. After receiving the award, an emotional Sonam thanked Neerja Bhanot's family and declared that she is proud to be Anil Kapoor's daughter. The actress played the slain 23-year-old flight attendant in the film based on Bhanot's life.
Rounding out the Critics Choice Awards were Shahid Kapoor and Manoj Bajpayee who jointly won the Best Actor Male for 'Udta Punjab' and 'Aligarh' respectively.
'Neerja' won the Critics Choice Award for Best Film.