Winner of India’s fourth highest civilian award ,Padamshree Award, Om Puri was born on October 18 , 1950 in Ambala ,Haryana . He graduated from The Film and Television Institute of India and is an alumnus of the 1973 Class of Nation School of Drama where Naseeruddin Shah was a co-student . Om Puri has worked in not only in the Hindi and Punjabi film industries but in British and American films as well. Prior to his debut in Hindi movies , he was a well known theatre artist . Om Puri made his debut in 1976 with the movie , ‘ Gashiram Kotwal’ which was based on a Marathi play.It was made in response to the rise of Shiv Sena . Some of his prominent films in Hindi cinema includes ‘Gandhi’ (1982) , ‘Maachis'(1996) ,’Ardh Satya'(1982) , ‘Disco Dancer'(1982), ‘Chachi 420 ‘(1997) ,’Hera Pheri ‘(2000) . Om Puri has even worked in Hindi serials like ‘Kakaji Kaheen’ (1988) and ‘Mr. Yogi'(1989) . Om Puri’s more recent Hindi film releases include ‘Singh is King’ , ‘Mere Baap Pehle Aap’ and ‘Billu’ . Puri had a cameo in the highly acclaimed film ‘Gandhi'(1982, directed by Richard Attenborough). In the mid-1990s, he played character roles in mainstream Hindi cinema, where his roles were more attuned to mass audiences than film critics. He became known internationally by starring in many British films such as ‘My Son,the Fanatic (1997),’East Is East'(1999) and ‘The Parole Officer’ (2001). Om Puri appeared in Hollywood films ‘City of Joy'(1992), opposite Patrick Swayze;’Wolf’ (1994) alongside Jack Nicholson,and ‘The Ghost and the Darkness’ (1996) opposite Val Kilmer. In 2007, Om Puri appeared as General Zia-ul-Haq in Charlie Wilson’s’ War,’ which starred Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. Recently, Puri ventured into Punjabi films with films like ‘Putt Jattan De'(2013) which also has the starcast of Aman Dhaliwal, Isha Rikhi, Jaswinder Bhalla, Daljit Kaur, Sardar Sohi, Mandeep Kaur, Karamjit Anmol and many more. Om Puri is known for working on good character roles which are off-beat. Om Puri is a veteran actor who cannot be accused of playing something mundane and regular.
