New Delhi: Amrish Puri was a stalwart when it came to acting, there is no doubt about that. The actor immortalised many iconic performances on screen. He was a ferocious villain for most part of his career. His performances was such that people would fear him while he used to be on screen. The name Amrish Puri was synonymous to a dreadful villain. However, as most of the villains explored character roles towards the later part of the career, Amrish Puri was no different. He tried many character roles in which he excelled equally. In fact, those character roles were iconic and to an extent changed how the actor was perceived by people. He played some stellar roles and came across as a legendary character role artist. Today is his birth anniversary.
Here are few of the movies where he played remarkable character roles:
1. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge
The movie created a lot of buzz when it was released in 90s. It is an iconic Yash Raj movie directed by Aditya Chopra. There was a big craze among people for the movie. One of the prominent roles of the movie was played by Amrish Puri. He was a protecting father of the heroine of the movie. He played role of a very disciplined and orthodox Punjabi man who was operating a store in London. He played the role with panache. Her daughter, Simran (Kajol) somehow convinced her Bauji (Amrish Puri) to go on Europe Trip with her friends. Her marriage was fixed with a Punjabi lad in India. But as the twist had it, Simran falls in love with Raj (Shahrukh Khan) on her trip. Amrish Puri never wanted this to happen and became furious when he knew about it. Ultimately at the end of the movie, he let her daughter go with her love. In an iconic scene, he said, “Jaa Simran Jee Le Apni Zindagi.” The role was played to perfection and it enchanted the audience a lot.
2. Gardish
It was such a hit movie in 90s. It came around the time of liberalisation. India was acutely battling with unemployment. The movie had brought the subject into limelight. The cinema had shown the real picture of India. Amrish Puri played role of Havaldar Purushottam Sathe. He wanted his son Shiva Sathe (Jackie Shroff) to become a Police Inspector. He played role of a responsible father who did everything to make his son successful and that too in limited resource that he had. He played the role with such a perfection that he looked very real. It was the story of every middle-class family. In the movie, Purushottam Sathe had to arrest son of an MLA. It led to twists and turns in the story. His son, Shiva Sathe incidentally turned into an underworld don. It was a gripping movie and Amrish Puri played his role with such a passion that he won hearts of people.
3. Virasat
It is yet another 90s hit movie. Amrish Puri played a role of Zamindar Raja Thakur. He was a respected landlord. He lives in a village and serves his people. He came across as an upright man clad in dhoti and kurta. His son, Shakti Thakur (Anil Kapoor), came back to village after completing his studies in London. Shakti accompanied his girlfriend Anita (Pooja Batra) to the village. Shakti tries to convince his father to sell a portion of their property to raise fund for setting up a chain of restaurant. Raja Thakur was not amused after hearing this. He wanted his son to serve his village by using his knowledge acquired through higher studies. As Shakti spends time in his village along with his girlfriend, dispute arises. The village was also battling family feud. Suddenly, Raja Thakur dies of heart attack. After the death, Shakti drops his plans to go out of the village and took reigns of the family and village. Amrish Puri was again phenomenal in this role.
4. China Gate
The movie was released in 1998. Amrish Puri played the role of Col Krishnakant Puri who was sacked from Indian Army for failing in China Gate mission. After the court-marshal, he spent his his life being aloof. He was so frustrated that even wanted to commit suicide. Then, a young lady Sandhya (Mamta Kulkarni) contacted him. Her father, who was a forest officer, was brutally slayed by dacoit Jageera. She requests Col Puri to help her in destroying Jageera's rule. Col Puri agrees and formed a team consisting of officers. Col Puri was finally able to chase Jageera out of his territory. Amrish Puri looked quite at ease while playing the role of Col Puri. He looked so real and again won a lot of accolades for his amazing performance in the movie.
Amrish Puri left us quite early and what better way than remembering him by watching some of his iconic roles in the movies on his birth anniversary.
