Om Puri: The man who presented the real faces of the subcontinent of India

The Indian film industry continues to turn out between 1600 and 2000 films every year, making it the largest movie-producing country in the world. Yet, it would be a challenge for an average European or American moviegoer to name a film actor from the Indian subcontinent. Naming the films may be easier. For instance, millennials may be able to name Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Generation X crowd may mention Gandhi (1982) and the older audiences may recall The Party (1968) and Ganga Din (1939) as movies about the Indians and India. It was not until the movie Gandhi that Indian actors were allowed to play as Indians. Sam Jaffe and Abner Biberman played as Indians in Ganga Din; Peter Sellers was the Indian actor in The Party, and Shirley MacLaine was the Princess Aouda in Around the World in 80 Days (1956). It is reasonable to assume that many film viewers may be unfamiliar with Om Puri, an actor who played in over 325 films in India, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States, and made films in English, Bengali, Punjabi and Tamil languages. Om Puri passed away in 2017. His name may be unfamiliar, but his face and his work as an actor will remain unforgettable. Between Gandhi (1982) and Viceroy’s House (2017), Puri acted in two dozen films in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. This article discusses Puri’s work in popular Hindi cinema, in Indian Parallel Cinema, and European and North American films.