Veteran actor and Padma Shri awardee Om Puri passed away at his Mumbai residence in the early hours of 6 January 2017, due to a cardiac attack.
One of India’s finest actors, Puri was an alumnus of the prestigious National School of Drama, Film and Television Institute of India and was a part of several critically acclaimed films like Ardh Satya.
The actor’s body was taken to Cooper Hospital for a postmortem and the funeral will take place on Friday at 6 pm.
Puri made his debut in the Marathi film Ghashiram Kotwal (1972) and won his first National Award for his film Aarohan in 1982.
Apart from portraying several unconventional roles, he also had terrific comedic timing and was part of iconic, cult films like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron and Hera Pheri.
His body of work was not limited to Indian cinema as he was a part of several films which were produced in the US and UK, like City of Joy, East is East and Gandhi.
In 1990, he was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour in India and in 2004, the Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his service.
Having a theater background, the actor was an intrinsic part of parallel cinema and also starred in television serials like Kakkaji Kaheen and Mr Yogi.
Posthumously, Puri’s film Viceroy’s House will release in 2017.
Political Controversies
Om Puri found himself in the eye of the storm several times as he was not one to shy away from making controversial remarks.
Uri Attack
In 2016, he appeared on Arnab Goswami’s show where he commented on the army, post the Uri attack.
Who had asked the soldiers to join the army? Who told them to pick the weapons?
Puri was quick to rectify his folly as he came forward to ask for pardon from the army and wanted to be “tried” by them.
I am guilty and I deserve a punishment. I want to be tried by the army, I should be court-martialled...I am pleading to the nation I want to be punished.
“Uneducated” MPs
When Anna Hazare had launched his hunger strike at Ramlila Maidan, Om Puri attacked politicians when he told the thousands gathered there that he “feels ashamed when IAS or IPS officers salute ganwaars who is a neta.”
Yeh anpadh hain, inka kya background hai? Aadhe se zyaada MP ganwaar hain.
He regretted his words as he said that he respects the Parliament and the Constitution of India. “I’m proud to be an Indian. I’m happy that this agitation was peaceful and had a lot of dignity and I’m proud of that,” said Puri.
(Source: Free Press Journal)
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