Today , When i was watching a movie ” Singh Saab The Great ” ,a part played as villain by Mr Prakash Raj was being enacted .With no offense to Mr Prakash Raj , i , insist of being threatened by him ,I felt amused by his dialogues and dialogue delivery and there is when I start missing Sir Amrish Puri.
Credit should be given to Mr Praksh Raj for he has provided a new dimension to villain with his roles in “Singham,Wanted etc ” to name a few Hindi films and many south Indian films .
But for a person who was born in 90s and who has constantly seen Sir Amrish Puri standing between hero and his happiness , since he has started watching movies, there is hardly any actor who have matched up his level of shrewdness , cunningness and all the -ve words which a dictionary boast of .
A fact that many may not be aware of is that his two elder brothers Aman Puri and Chaman Puri also played significant roles as villains . Came to Bombay(then) to become a hero couldn’t a find a role because many didn’t find him with the looks of a charming hero. Not disappointed with this , he started doing theater and learned the tiniest skills of acting ,which can be seen in his performances which were so real that people really did believe them to be real and not just reel. It is important to mention some of his roles as MUGAMBO in Mr India , ISAQ KHAN in The Love Story Of a Spy , Gadar, Nayak and i could go on and on.
He also made his presence felt in the international cinema 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 became undisputed villain of Hindi cinema of his time. But it will not be wise to paint him only as Villain , he was much more than that , he also played character roles in the movies . In Toto, he was very fine actor who could play any role convincingly.
Sir you have provided us with some powerful performances which we will always cherish and celebrate.
I end this by hoping that wherever you are , you must be giving hell of trouble to heroes of that world (:P) and after reading this you will say “MUGAMBO KUSH HUA ” .