Veteran Indian actor Om Puri expressed his disappointment about Bollywood industry being notoriously ageist.
Good roles are rarely written for actors of his age. Puri is 66.
“It’s very few and they all go [Amitabh] Bachchan. But I take it in my stride. I don’t envy him and he’s a hardworking man, wonderful actor. It’s not like he’s snatching roles from us. It’s the makers who want to play safe… It’s pure economics,” said Puri in an interview with Gulf News tabloid!. He believes that even other talented actors such as Anupam Kher and Paresh Rawal face a similar problem of finding good roles.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the 13th edition of Dubai International Film Festival after launching the teaser of his next film, Solar Eclipse: Depth Of Darkness.
Puri plays a police officer in this Stephen Lang-starrer about the assassination of the iconic Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi.
“Solar Eclipse has no agenda and that’s the beauty of this film. It makes you think of finding solutions. It’s a wonderful script and the pace is like a thriller,” said Puri, adding that it doesn’t dwell on Gandhi, the individual.
“It is a wonderful script that brings out truth behind the truth… Another unique thing is that there are 32 nationalities who worked in this film. We are trying to reveal to you why India couldn’t stop Gandhi’s assassination or whether it was that easy to assassinate him,” said Puri. He added that the film was based on historically accurate information.
Solar Eclipse, produced by Dubai-based Nugen Media Productions and directed by award-winning Algerian filmmaker Karim Traidia, was filmed largely in Sri Lanka.
It’s scheduled for a release early next year.
