[1/9] Om Puri would have been 70 today, if not for his untimely death in 2017. The thespian owed his rise to arthouse cinema, but he was not limited to that space. He shone everywhere, including commercial cinema. Let's remember the actor through a few of his rare photos.
[2/9] Om Puri’s huge body of work will remain very solid evidence of his presence, if not in body then in spirit. Here, he can be seen talking during an Idea Exchange session.[3/9] With a deep, gravelly voice, Om Puri exuded gravitas. The actor owned every frame he was a part of.[4/9] Om Puri showed that to be successful in cinema, you did not have to conform to the stereotypical ‘chocolate-boy’ look. Here, he can be seen with Madhuri Dixit.[5/9] Om Puri straddled the two forms of cinema – parallel and mainstream – with uncanny ease. He was perfect both in ordinary Joe roles in Indie films and also larger-than-life figures in commercial films. Om Puri can be seen with Yash Chopra in this picture.[6/9] Just like he did successful and acclaimed roles in both parallel and mainstream cinema, he also slipped into different genres easily. You could see him doing comedy as a rustic in Malamaal Weekly, and he was equally credible as a ruthless terrorist in Kurbaan.[7/9] While Om Puri may have been inimitable on the screen, he was also not afraid to express what came to his mind. His candour was surprisingly refreshing.[8/9] Om Puri was bestowed with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India, in 1990. In 2004, he was made an honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Here, Om Puri can be seen with Seema Biswas and Adil Hussain during the trailer launch of Jai Ho Democracy in 2015.[9/9] Gul Makai was the final movie of the actor that released this year in January. It’s based on the life of Pakistani-born activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.