How veteran actor Om Puri could pull off Shakespeare as well as David Dhawan

From Lear to leer, Om Puri could pull off Shakespeare as well as David Dhawan.

Om Puri was a late bloomer. Until a few years ago, his achievements were hardly ever recognized, let alone broadcast. Om Puri was destined to be a purely an actor, until stardom caught up with him in unexpected ways. Today, he’s the toast of the turnstiles as well as the festivals. This affable softspoken ‘character’ actor enjoyed every moment of his success.

Speaking of his most memorable birthday ever, Om had mentioned it was the time when Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Shabana Azmi, K. Vishwanath, Gulzar and he were in Mauritius. On 19 October, Shabana yelled, “I don’t believe it! Yesterday was your birthday.” Om had completely forgotten.

“It was memorable because I  forgot my birthday,” Om had laughed.

Puri was seen in so many international films. But he was never been desperate for opportunities.

Assessing his international success Om had once said to me, “My success abroad is akin to the situation I faced here after Aakrosh, wherein I was only recognized by the intelligentsia and directors like Shyam Benegal, Mrinal Sen and Satyajit Ray responded to my performance. Ardh Satya was my breakthrough in the commercial circuit locally. Now I need one film like Ardh Satya internationally. But let tell you the recognition I get from the common people on the streets abroad is amazing. Here, I’m a star without the glamour and the glitter. I walk into any town and I’m decently mobbed. Some years ago, I was embarrassed to be called a star. But not any longer.”

At one point in his career, Om became profoundly frustrated with the work on offer. “Enough  is  enough. I’ve slogged for thirty years. I’ve accumulated a decent bank balance, though, it may not be decent by Bollywood  standards. I’ve  done roles for fun and for job satisfaction. Now, I need to take it easy. I keep turning  down offers. I need a break. But I’ve a son. He needs careful nurturing. I can’t just sit back and relax. My colleague Naseer (Naseeruddin Shah)’s children are grown up. His responsibilities are over. And besides, he has earned a   lot  more than me. I’ve been paid peanuts for my efforts. I was paid a mere 7 lakh rupees for  playing one of  the central characters and working four months non-stop in Rajkumar Santoshi’s China Gate. I’m sure Naseer must’ve got five times more money for the same film. Surely, big filmmakers like Santoshi Saab should be more cautious of my worth. But I’ve no complaints. I just want to take the next two months off. I may return to theatre, or do a small but meaningful film that gives me satisfaction as an actor.

About being recognized on the streets, Om once told me, “People respond very warmly to me on airports and during flights. As for India, they don’t tear off my shirt on the streets. But you’ll be amazed to know that even in the tiniest villages, there’s a lot warmth towards me. Once in village in Madhya Pradesh, an elderly schoolteacher walked up to me and said, ‘That old woman sitting there is my wife. Both of us see lots of your films. I don’t remember the name. But we loved you the best in the film where you played Bhikhu’. They remembered me in my very major film Aakrosh! Hamara impact homeopathic medicine jaisa hai, yeh stars logon ka impact allopathic medicine jaisa hai (my impact is like that of homeopathic medicines). In India, I am being used for the last twenty five years like a potato in every dish—be it a comedy, thriller or a love story. The bloody bhindi costs Rs 30 per kilo. But the price of potato remains unchanged.”

Om’s heart bled for many things in life. The state of the nation perplexed and frustrated him. “But there’s very little we can do about that. We people have stopped reacting to corruption. This wasn’t so even fifteen years ago. We still had protestors then. Today, nobody cares a damn about what Jayalalitha or Laloo Yadav do the nation. Everyone wants to get rich quick. Today’s middleclass youth has seen its grandfather and father work all their lives. He wants a flashy car and a posh duplex and he doesn’t care how he gets it. That’s how the youngsters  lose their way. Even sons of the rich don’t want to become politicians. Nor do they aspire to become civil servants. They want to become businessman. Nobody wants to join the army any longer. Why should they? When a general retires he can only afford a two-bedroom flat in the city. That isn’t enough any longer.”

Om once told me back home Farhan Akhtar and Karan Johar have been exceptionally generous to him. “During the shooting of Don 2 in Berlin, everyone from the principal actors to the spot-boys stayed in the same hotel in Berlin. This sort of a uniform treatment instils a spirit of kinship in the unit. Likewise, Karan Johar, with whom I did Kurbaan and now Agneepath, did not hesitate in making sure I was well-treated.”

These were exceptions to the  cruel. Om Puri never got his due in the Indian entertainment industry. He never found his true métier in this selfserving environment .When his role in  Dabangg was reduced to a cameo, Om was upset for months and wanted to quit. But where could he go? Acting was all he ever wanted to do.

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.

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