Remembering Amrish Puri On His 90th Birthday

By Devraj Bollareddy

Today is the  90th birthday of Amrish Puri, an iconic Indian actor that was an important figure in Indian film and cinema. Despite usually playing negative roles, he was loved and admired by the audience as they commended him for his exceptional acting, stunning dialogue delivery and the way he delivered emotional scenes with his acting. His passing away in 2005 left a huge void in Bollywood.

From Mogambo in Mr India to the grumpy dad in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Amrish Puri has a string of iconic roles under his belt. Along with being a successful actor, his close friends constantly commented on how he was a nice man to know, with Kamal Haasan even saying that Amrish Puri was a true gentleman.

No Bollywood movie is complete without a villain and Amrish Puri embodied the role of the villain like no other. His role as Mogambo and the iconic dialogue ‘Mogambo Khush Hua’ changed the way villains were represented in Bollywood and since this role, no other actor has managed to collect that level of acclaim for playing a negative role. His role as Kajol’s overprotective father in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayange gave rise the iconic ‘Ja Simran, Jee le apni zindagi’ dialogue that became an important part of Indian pop culture and is a dialogue most of us have used at least once in our lives. His role as Balraj Chauhan in Nayak, where he played the role of a corrupt minister was one of his most memorable roles as he created magic on screen and added his own charm to Balraj Chauhan. His performance was one of the highlights of the film.

He also acted in several Telugu films with the late NTR, Chiranjeevi, and other top stars in films like Jagadeka Veerudu and Aakhari Poratam to name a few in Tollywood.

Amrish Puri would have been 90 years old today and although he is not with us anymore, he left behind a piece of himself with us in the form of iconic movies that we can still watch till this day.