There have been many villains in Hindi cinema who will be remembered in history. But there was a villain who entered the cinema at the age of 40 and got lot of recognition in the industry. This villain was none other than Amrish Puri. He made a different identity with his voice. Seeing his acting on the screen, the audience was also scared.
Amrish Puri
Born on June 22, 1932, Amrish Puri made his film debut in 1971 with Reshma and Shera, but gained recognition as an actor with films like Nishant, Manthan and Bhumika. Amrish Puri used to play negative roles in such a way that there came a time when people started recognizing him as a ‘bad guy’ in Hindi films. His most memorable role was that of Mogambo in Mr India, whose dialogue is still famous today. He mostly played the roles of villains.
Mogambo is considered as the most popular character in the history of Hindi cinema. Amrish Puri’s demand in Hindi cinema was so much that there came a time when he became the most expensive villain of Hindi films. It is said that he used to charge up to one crore rupees for a film. But where it was a matter of identity, he had no hesitation in reducing his fees.
Mogambo
Amrish Puri was a very disciplined person in real life. He liked to do everything in the right way. Be it movies or any work of personal life. Do you know that Amrish came to Mumbai only at the behest of his elder brother, but the actor was rejected in the first audition. Amrish Puri is counted among such actors who have never had an affair with any of the actress. In his initial days in Mumbai, he used to work in a bank. During this time he met Urmila Diwekar, who later became his wife.
Amrish Puri had said in an interview about his fees – “When I do not compromise on my acting then why should I take less fees. The producer is getting money from his distributors because I am in the film. People come to the theatre to see me acting. Then am I not entitled to higher fees?”
Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri was 40 years old when director Sukhdev signed him for Reshma Aur Shera in 1971. Hum Paanch in 1980 established him in commercial films as well. His character of Duryodhana in this film was very popular. After that, he never looked back. Even today the magic of Amrish Puri’s films speaks volumes over the heads of people. In films, Amrish Puri was shown many times drunk but in real life, he used to stay away from alcohol.