Amrish Puri: More than a villain, as powerful as the hero

Amrish Puri was called as the Worldrsquos greatest villain by one of the greatest filmmakers in the world Steven Spielberg The veteran actorrsquos illustrious career boasts off some incredible films and inimitable performances with innumerable roles as the antagonist The joy of watching a usual villain as an unusual good man is inexplainable and thatrsquos precisely what Purirsquos certain performances didOn the occasion of the legendary actorrsquos 89th birth anniversary we peep into some of his works where he wasnrsquot the villain and yet stood as tall as the hero and commanded the screen by just being in the frame Here are some personal favouritesArdh Satya 1983The actor played Om Purirsquos father a retired police officer whorsquos violent and beats his wife He often has clashes with his son and in one scene when he compels him to get married the other Purirsquos volcanic eruption silences him He does wrong things in this towering drama and yet hersquos not the villain Hersquos a flawed ordinary man who makes flawed choices Hersquos a humanDilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge 1995In Aditya Choprarsquos directorial debut the actor essays the role of Chaudhary Baldev Singh a disciplinarian father and husband who adheres to protocols and Indian traditions despite residing in the UK Does his family members respect him or are in awe and fear of this austere man One feels itrsquos the latter But Chopra stages a lovely moment of endearment where Puri smells a letter so that he can enjoy the fragrance of his motherlandrsquos soil And the iconic climax where he asks his daughter to live her life absolves him of being a conflict in the story of Raj and Simran Itrsquos very rare when Puri resolves conflicts rather than being themGhatak 1996Sunny Deol and Amrish Puri often found themselves pitied against one another sometimes in a courtroom and sometimes in Pakistan In Rajkumar Santoshirsquos intense drama they mercifully stay together Mumbai the city of dreams turns nightmarish for them as they encounter the ruthless Katiya played by another intimidating performer Danny Denzongpa Puri was submissive and gentle in lsquoGhatakrsquo but his words were just as blazing As he rightly says Katiya is not the villain of this story his fear isVirasat 1997Before Priyadarshan majorly moved to comedies he gazed at stories that were brutal This is one of them It is the story of Puris son Shakti Anil Kapoor who comes back to his village with his girlfriend His father wants him to handle the village crisis help the people he has grown up with the son is keen to be a restauranteur in the city Therersquos a clash of ideas and ideologies When Puri passes away Shakti becomes the new head Actors who can pull off villainy and vulnerability with equal ease are rare and Puri was one of themMujhe Kucch Kehna Hai 2001This name in the same list as the films above can jitter people but this performance is a personal choice Puri is thoroughly likable as debutant Tusshar Kapoorrsquos uncle Itrsquos a role that he plays mostly for comic reliefs and does succeed in raising many laughs Hersquos less of a family more of a friend If you can make Amrish Puri your friend itrsquos a classic achievementAlso Read Revisiting Ardh Satya with Govind Nihalani at Khar