January 12, 2005
 

Mogambo ne khush kiya

Amrish Puri, possibly the most famous movie baddie of the last 15 years, passed away this morning of a brain haemorrhage at the age of 72. Obviously he is best remembered for his performance as Mogambo in Shekhar Kapoor's Mr. India. What a booming voice. Coincidentally, one other chap with a great voice made his movie debut in the same movie Amrish Puri debuted and he didnt do too badly either, did he?

Of course, there was also his tryst with Hollywood as Mola Ram. He also acted in Attenborough's Gandhi, although I cant seem to recall what his role was. It wasnt just mainstream Hindi cinema that he was comfortable with. He also had superb roles in three of Shyam Benegal's movies - Nishaanth, Manthan and Bhumika. His screen roles did mellow with age and he played several dad characters, the most popular among them being Kajol's father in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge.

Truly a superb actor and he will be greatly missed.

Labels: movies