Amrish Puri: News

Certain actors have an uncanny ability to completely transform into the characters they play. Amrish Puri was one of those actors whose roles on the big screen made people hate him as he successfully portrayed hateworthy characters in multiple languages. Puri was born on June 22, 1932, in Nawanshahr, Punjab. His elder brothers were actors and this influenced Puri at an early age. As every budding actor, he too dreamt about being a hero but a failed screen test in 1954 led him to consider theater. His performances as a stage actor earned him opportunities in films. He started with small roles in films like ‘Prem Pujari’ and ‘Reshma Aur Shera.’ He was around 40 at the time. Puri went on to act in over 450 films in his career including in languages such as Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam, Punjabi, Telugu, etc. He became one of the most prolific actors to perform negative roles in the Hindi film industry. He even showcased his talent abroad in Hollywood in films such as ‘Gandhi’ (1982) and as the main anti-hero in ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ (1984) where he shaved his head to play Mola Ram. Puri died in 2005 due to complications related to a rare form of blood cancer.