Veteran Bollywood actor Om Puri says he was overwhelmed by the warm reception he received when he returned to his alma mater, the National School of Drama, after 40 years, and that he wants to get back to theatre.
Puri, 64, was welcomed by resounding applause on Sunday at the inauguration of NSD’s 17th Bharat Rang Mahotsav. Recalling his time on stage, the National Award-winning actor said the feeling one gets doing theatre is unmatchable.
“I could have cried on the stage. I am grateful to this theatre school for making me what I am today. I feel I should get back to the stage. These [cheers] are like energisers. This kind of reception is addictive.
“Theatre always gives me a high. I plan to now do both films and theatre. Because of movies, I could not do much theatre, but now I will be active on stage and do more plays,” Puri said.
The actor’s last theatre outing was the Punjabi play Teri Amrita two years ago. It was an adaptation of the 1992 epistolary play Tumhari Amrita featuring Shabana Azmi and late actor Farooq Sheikh.
Puri stressed the cultural importance of theatre and said it should be expanded on a national level so that stage artistes are able to sustain themselves.
“We need our theatre to become national. Only Marathi and Bengali ones are sustaining and doing well and to some extent Karnataka and Gujarat too. But compared to foreign countries, our theatre lacks stage craft. We have acting and direction potential but need to work on stage skills,” he said.
Puri said he tries to give back to theatre by doing substantial films.
“Theatre is like Sanskrit, it is a mother plant. Radio and cinema are its children. It has played a big role in my career. [To pay it back], I have done films like Ardh Satya, Aakrosh.
“What I wanted to do on stage, I am doing in films in a much more effective manner. Had I been just on stage, the reach would have been less but through films I can reach out to a much bigger audience,” Puri added.
