Students
Will
Watch
My
Films
In
one
of
his
last
interviews,
which
took
place
at
a
hotel
here
on
December
23,
2016,
Om
Puri
told
IANS,
"My
contribution
as
an
actor
will
be
visible
once
I
leave
this
world
and
the
young
generation,
especially
film
students
will
watch
my
films."
His
Contribution
To
Showbiz
The
66
year-old
actor
died
of
a
heart
attack
at
his
residence
here
early
morning
on
Friday.
Today,
as
he
leaves
a
void
in
the
world
of
cinema
with
his
untimely
demise,
the
film
fraternity
is
looking
back
at
his
vast
contribution
to
showbiz.
His
Legacy
Will
Live
On
Theatre,
television,
Indian
and
British
films,
Hollywood
and
Pakistani
cinema
-
he
did
it
all
and
left
a
lasting
impression.
His
legacy,
celebrities
said,
will
live
on.
'A
Lover
Of
Alternate
Cinema'
A
lover
of
alternate
cinema
with
socially
relevant
themes
at
its
core,
Om
Puri
said,
"For
me,
the
real
hard-hitting
cinema
was
between
1980s
and
1990s
where
Shyam
Benegal,
Govind
Nihalani,
Basu
Chatterjee,
Mrinal
Sen
and
Gulzar
made
some
remarkable
films."
In
Pic:
Om
Puri
With
Naseeruddin
Shah
He
worked
in
multiple
projects
with
Nihalani
and
Benegal
-
films
like
‘Aakrosh',
‘Ardh
Satya' and
‘Tamas'
which
catapulted
him
into
the
realm
of
great
actors.
Both
the
directors
were
overcome
by
emotions
when
IANS
contacted
them
after
news
of
Om
Puri's
death
broke.
In
shaky
voices,
both
said
it
was
too
early
to
talk.
There's
No
One
Like
Him..
Just
days
earlier,
he
was
happily
interacting
with
young
scribes
to
promote
his
upcoming
political
satire
‘Rambhajan
Zindabad'.
Casually
dressed
in
a
pair
of
baggy
jeans
and
a
black
shirt,
he
was,
as
was
his
style,
devoid
of
any
airs
about
his
stardom
-
a
position
not
defined
by
fanatical,
frenzied
fans,
but
by
the
sheer
following
of
his
nuanced
performances
and
undying
passion
for
art.
An
Unlikely
Hero..
He
was
-
as
the
biography
by
his
former
wife
Nandita
Puri
-
rightly
says,
an
‘Unlikely
Hero'.
The
veteran
actor,
a
recipient
of
Padma
Shri,
started
his
journey
as
an
actor
with
a
Marathi
film
‘Ghashiram
Kotwal'
in
1972.
If
he
featured
in
some
intense
dramas,
he
also
balanced
out
his
filmography
with
movies
like
‘Mirch
Masala',
‘Jaane
Bhi
Do
Yaaro'
and
more.
Om
Puri
On
Two
Kinds
Of
Cinema
"There
are
two
kinds
of
cinema
-
one
is
just
for
entertainment,
the
other
touches
your
heart.
Both
have
their
own
purpose," Om
Puri
had
told
IANS.
Used
To
Encourage
Films
When
he
was
chairman
of
the
National
Film
Development
Corporation,
Om
Puri
was
focused
on
encouraging
meaningful
films.
The
National
School
of
Drama
alumnus
was
also
president
of
Cine
and
TV
Artistes
Association.
He
Will
Be
Missed..
More
recently,
he
featured
in
Bollywood
films
like
‘Ghayal
Once
Again'
and
‘Mirzya',
as
well
as
in
Pakistani
film
‘Actor
In
Law'.
He
even
used
his
distinct
baritone
for
the
voice
of
black
panther
Bagheera
in
the
Hindi
dubbed
version
of
Hollywood
film
‘The
Jungle
Book'.