Veteran Indian actor Om Puri died on Friday morning of a heart attack at his residence in Mumbai, a family friend said. He was 66. Actress Shabana Azmi tweeted his funeral details. “Om Puri undergoing post-mortem at Cooper Hospital. Will be taken to Trishul around 3 p.m. Funeral at Oshiwara electric crematorium around 6 p.m. (sic),” Shabana tweeted.
Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, who was going to direct the actor in his new movie, said, “It is very sad news. His body of work in the Indian film industry has been tremendous across the commercial and parallel genres. We’ve lost a great talent.”
Known for his deep baritone and distinctive acting style, Om Puri had an affinity towards socially relevant cinema. This drove him into doing movies like Aakrosh, Ardh Satya and Dharavi .
An alumnus of National School of Drama, Om Puri also featured in movies like Mirch Masala. He also explored his ability to dabble in the comedy genre with Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro , Chachi 420 , Hera Pheri , Malamaal Weekly and other films. His stint on the small screen saw him in shows like Kakkaji Kaheen and Mr. Yogi. But his most notable work was in TV film Tamas , which was helmed by Govind Nihalani — a filmmaker with whom Om Puri worked very closely.
Om Puri also nurtured an international career, which started with a cameo in Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi . Among some of his British films were My Son the Fanatic , East Is East and The Parole Officer . He also appeared in Hollywood films including City of Joy, Wolf and The Ghost and the Darkness . He even featured in Pakistani film Actor In Law , and sank his teeth into film projects in multiple languages like Malayalam and Kannada.
A Padma Shri awardee and a National Award-winner, Om Puri was also conferred the title of the Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his services to the British film industry. He was president of the Cine & TV Artistes’ Association (CINTAA) and a former chairman of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).
He was married to Nandita Puri, from whom he separated in 2013. Together, they have a son, Ishaan.
A tweet on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “The Prime Minister condoles the passing away of actor Om Puri and recalls his long career in theatre and films.” Actor Anupam Kher, Om Puri’s close friend, said he had spoken to him just two days back. Khalid Kidwai, producer of Om Puri’s upcoming film Ram Bhajan Zindabad , said he met him Thursday night on the promotional activities of the movie. “He was in a happy mood and we conversed till late evening, before he went to his friend and actor Manoj Pahwa’s party. When I learnt of his demise in the morning, I was in shock!” Kidwai said, adding, “I still can’t believe he is no more.”
Actor and general secretary of CINTAA, Sushant Singh, said: “I was supposed to meet him tonight (Friday) as he wanted to be updated about CINTAA. This morning, I got the news... devastated.”
Another member of CINTAA and actor Amit Behl said Om Puri was one of the finest human beings. “I used to call him my Guru Bhai as we were trained by the same Guru. He was down-to-earth, very fine and a realistic actor.”