It’s oddly unsettling to hear Indian actor Om Puri voice his thoughts on how 2016 had treated him.
Puri, who died of a sudden heart attack on Friday morning at his home in Mumbai, sounded prophetic and chillingly fatalistic during our sit-down interview with him last month at the 13th Dubai International Film Festival.
The last few months were particularly rough for the 66-year-old legendary actor.
In October, the Ardh Satya star was widely condemned after he made a controversial remark about the Indian army soldiers during a live show on a TV channel on the Kashmir issue.
“Who had asked the soldiers to join the army? Who told them to pick the weapons?” were the questions posed by Puri during that heated debate. His thoughts were brandished as thoughtless and insensitive. His comments were construed as unpatriotic and insulting.
So did that episode scar him and make him careful about airing his thoughts, was one of the highlights of this interview.
“I don’t want to be too careful. At the same time, I don’t want to suppress what I feel is right … But those words came out unknowingly out of my mouth. I condemn it totally. I know I have hurt the feelings of many,” said Puri, nursing a coffee cup in his hand.
In Bollywood, it’s rare for A-list stars to acknowledge their mistakes, forget asking for forgiveness. (Bollywood superstar Salman Khan is yet to apologise for trivialising rape during an interview.) But Puri, who has straddled both mainstream and critically-acclaimed Hindi films, is cut from a different cloth.
“I want to say I am sorry. I am guilty. I don’t expect forgiveness. I expect punishment and I am ready. I even said at that time that in some countries, my hand would have been cut out for what I said,” said Puri, looking mortified.
He explained patiently that he had sought penance with the slain soldier’s family right after that debate.
“I went to their village [soldier who died during Uri attacks], I met his parents, I met his brother. I did a havan [a Hindu ritual]. I said I don’t want repentance, I want to do prayashchit [penance] … I know there’s no justification, I can only hang my head in shame. I plead you for forgiveness,” said Puri with folded hands. In hindsight, his actions indicated that he didn’t want to leave any unfinished business with the world.
The self-made actor, who has acted in films for over four decades and made a career out of playing angst-ridden roles in Bollywood, was one of India’s first and finest cultural exports. Puri has appeared in several notable British and Hollywood films including Richard Attenborough’s 1982 epic, Gandhi, on Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi and in Tom Hanks-starrer Charlie Wilson’s War. So who was his favourite co-star?
“I thought Tom Hanks was great. He’s not stiff and he’s friendly,” said Puri.
“For example, my wife and my son were with me as we were filming in Morocco for Charlie Wilson’s War. My wife wanted to meet him. So I went to his room, gently knocked. He opens it and immediately shuts the door and I wondered what happened,” said Puri with a nostalgic smile. “The door immediately opened with Hanks going: ‘Mr Puri, what can I do for you?’” The actor painstakingly explained that his wife, Nandita (who is now legally separated from the actor), was a big fan of Hanks and that she would like to spend five minutes with him.
“But he goes: ‘why five minutes? I will have a meal with your son and family’. So there we were, just the four of us. We had a meal together and we chatted for hours. It was one of my favourites,” said Puri.
At the time of the interview, Puri had just revealed the trailer of his film Solar Eclipse: The Depth Of Darkness. He plays a police officer in this Stephen Lang-starrer about the assassination of the iconic Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. What attracted him to the project, funded by Dubai-based Nugen Media Productions and directed by award-winning Algerian filmmaker Karim Traidia, was that the film had no agenda, just like the actor himself.
“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. He admitted that he loved meeting people and the fact that Solar Eclipse had 32 nationalities working on it was a big draw.
“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. While such films excited him, the Padma Shri awardee was open enough to admit that good offers were drying up in his life. Good roles are rarely written anymore for actors like him, he said.
“It’s very few and they all go to [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, adding that his good friends Anupama Kher, Paresh Rawal were also facing the same problem. Bollywood is notoriously ageist and Puri didn’t mind calling it out.
“I am not doing films like Ardh Satya or Aakrosh anymore. There are hardly any such roles left. The other day, I suggested to a friend to start a programme called Mashawra [consultation]. I want to host it … I am open to any thing,” said Puri. As an artist, he was just excited about facing the camera.
“Did you know I have even done a voice-over for a sight and sound show in Andaman. I represent a tree that has been there for centuries. If there’s anything sensible — say a documentary, a film or a voice-over — I want to do it,” said Puri. It was clear that remaining relevant in Hindi films wasn’t as glamorous as it’s cooked up to be. So when I asked if his next film, Solar Eclipse, would put him back on the map, he retorted: “I have not gone anywhere from the map. I am very much here.”
If there were any words that rang more true and ironic, it was those last few words uttered by Puri. But we didn’t end our interview on a grim note. Puri, who’s a people’s person, wanted to know which restaurant served the best Keralite food in Dubai since this journalist was from that part of India. A suggestion to try a popular Malayali restaurant in Karama got him excited.
“I might try that place you suggested. I love trying new things,” said Puri.
