Mumbai: Google Doddle paid tribute to veteran actor Amrish Puri on his 87th birthday Saturday. Born on June 22, 1932 in Lahore Pakistan, the ‘Mogambo’ of Hindi cinema has acted in more than 400 films.
On his 87th birthday, his son Rajiv Puri during an interview with a renowned channel shared some memories.
Rajiv said that his father’s performance was only limited to the screen but people were afraid of him in reality thinking he was the same as the characters he portrayed on screen.
‘When my friends cane home in my father’s presence, they used stay in fear but after meeting him, they gradually understood him,” Rajiv said. Amirish Puri, who used to be harsh on screen, was opposite in his private life. He was a very humble person, family man and liked to stay in discipline.
According to Rajiv, Amrish Puri never imposed his decisions on him. Rajiv said, “At that time hindi film industry was not good, so father told me not to join and asked me to do whatever I liked. So, I joined merchant navy.”
“Dad got recognition in films at the age of 40. Nobody has the courage to do such experiments,” he added.
Amrish as a villain left a foot print in the film industry. In the 1987 film ‘Mr. India’, his character ‘Mogambo’ became very famous. The dialogue of the movie ‘Mogambo Khush Hua’, still remains unchanged for the people.
Recalling his films, Rajiv said, “I love eight movies of my father.” Virasat , ‘Ghatak’, ‘Koyla’, ‘Tridev’, ‘Vishwatma’, ‘Mr India’, ‘Gadar’ and ‘Nagin’. In the movie ‘Nagin’, he played a Tantric character which I have not forgotten till date.
Amrish Puri’s grandson is associated with films. Rajiv told that his son Harshvardhan Puri is working as Assistant Director in Yash Raj Films. He has so far worked behind the camera in three films ‘Ishaqzade’, ‘Suddh Desi Romance’ and ‘Daawat-e -Ishq’.
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PNN/Agencies