Sunday, January 8, 2017

Demise of a Rare Gem of Cinema.

For me, before I came to know about Parallel Cinema, I was fan of a person who could perform action roles. In other words I appreciated the actors who were coined as "heroes". 
But in 2004 I watched Rajiv Rai directed Gupt (1997) on television. I was influenced by the character of Inspector Udham Singh, played by the late Om Puri. I also highly appreciate his role in Sunny Deol starer Ghayal (1990), appearing as ACP Joe D'Souza, for which he was nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. 
That Udham Singh, that D'Souza left us all alone leaving behind a hope of a better cinema industry. Yes, it’s unfortunate news rather a shock for entire cinema industry. 
Throwing light on his career, Om Puri appeared in mainstream commercial Indian, British, American and Pakistani films, as well as independent films and art films. He is best-known for his author-backed roles in films like Aakrosh (1980), Arohan (1982) and television films like Sadgati (1981) and Tamas (1987) and also light-hearted roles in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983), Chachi 420 (1997) and Actor In Law (2017). He had various collaborations with director Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani.

He was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India, in 1990; and in 2004, was made an honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

Awards and Nominations.

Wins

Nominations

Selected filmography

Year
Title
Role
Notes
1972
Ghashiram
Marathi film based on play Ghashiram Kotwal
1977
1977
1977
1978
Marxist man
1980
Garrage Mechanic
1980
Lahanya Bhiku
1980
Ketan Mehta
1981
DuKhi
1982
Nahari
1982
Arvind
1982
Tulsi
1982
Hari Mondal
1983
Anant Velankar
1983
Ahuja
1983
Dittu
Punjabi film
1984
Mr De Souza
English TV series
1984
Bhashya
1985
Abu Mian
1985
Dr Sunil
1985
Trade Unionist
1988
Dr. Ram Kumar Verma
1988
Raman
Malayalam movie
1988
Various roles
Doordarshan television series[27]
1988
Netaji
Hindi TV serial
1990
ACP Joe D'Souza
1991
Chetan Parikh
1991
Suraj Narayan Singh 'Baapji'
1992
adaptation of Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary
1992
Hazari Pal
English film adaptation of Dominique Lapierre's novel
1992
Satyam
Telugu film
1992
Velu
1992
Sharji
Hindi film
1993
Deven
1993
Mathura
1994
Dr. Vijay Alezias
English film
1994
DCP Abhay Singh
1994
1996
Abdullah
English film
1996
Sanatan
1997
Parvez
English film
1997
Banwari lal-Secy
1997
Amar
1997
Inspector Udham Singh
1997
Rambaran Mahto
1998
Ghulam Mohamed
English film
1998
Inspector Khan
1998
Inspector Khan
1998
Col. Krishnakant Puri
Hindi film
1999
George Khan
English film
1999
Commissioner Yashwant Sinha
Kannada film
2000
Goel
2000
Balraj Singh
2000
Khadak Singh
2000
Bhola Nath
2000
Ajay Pandey
2001
ACP Arjun Singh
2001
Ramlogan
English film
2001
Narrator
2001
George
English film
2001
Subramaniam
2002
Ballu Bolbachan
2002
Kannada film
2002
2002
Samad
English series adaptation of White Teeth by Zadie Smith
2003
Sam
2003
A British TV serial
2003
Bahkland
English film
2003
Inspector Pandit
2003
Father Of Dead Military Man
2004
2004
Police Commissioner Khurana
2004
Subedar Maj. Pritam Singh
2004
Prosonjit Bhatacharya
2004
Special Commissioner Tejinder Khosla
2005
Don
2005
Shiva
2005
ACP S.P. Rao
2006
Amanullah Khan
2006
Balwant 'Balu'
2006
Prabhat Singh Chauhan
2006
CBI Officer Vishal Malik
2007
Father of Rahul / Raja
2007
Dadaji
2007
Vidyut Baba / Vidya
2007
English film
2008
Madhav Mathur
2008
Sanjeev Gill
2008
Rangeela
2008
SP Intelligence — Rathod
2009
Sahukaar Daamchand
2009
Arjun's uncle
2009
Daroga Chaturvedi
2009
Bhaijaan
2009
2010
Sarpanch
2010
Police Inspector
2010
Sankata Prasad Tripathi
2010
Rai Bhahadur
2010
George Khan
English film
2011
CBI Officer Vishal Malik
2011
Sub Inspector Pralay Pratap Singh
2011
Khadak Singh Bakshi
2011
Chixie Gill
2012
Additional Commissioner Gaitonde
2012
Chowdhary
2012
Fatoor Singh
2012
Govind Suryavanshi
2012
Hanif Bhai
2012
David
2013
Jora Vailly
Punjabi film
2013
Punjabi film
2013
Abu
2014
Papa Kadam
English/French
2014
Dr. Sanjay Trehan
2014
2014
Narrator
Punjabi film
2015
Hindi
2015
Laddu Babu aka Sai Kumar Konakandla
Hindi
2015
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Hindi
2015
Moulana Sahab
Hindi
2015
Matang Singh
Hindi
2015
A Million Rivers
Shiv
English
2015
Hindi
2016
ACP Joe D'Souza
Hindi
2016
Muni
Malayalam
2016
Bagheera
Hindi dub
2016
Rafaqat Mirza
Pakistani film debut
2016
Munna (Lauhar)
Hindi
2016
Narrator (animated film)
Punjabi, Hindi, English
2017
Naval officer
Hindi, Telugu
2017
English