Amrish Puri

Amrish Lal Puri ( June 22, 1932 – January 12, 2005) was an Indian actor who appeared primarily in Hindi movies.He is best remembered to Bollywood audiences for his role as Mogambo in Mr India (1987). He is also especially remembered for his role as Mola Ram in the Hollywood film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).Amrish Puri was born in Distt. Nawanshehar near by Jalandhar in the Punjab region of India. His parents were (father) Lala Nihal Chand and (mother) Ved Kaur. He had four siblings, elder brothers Chaman Puri and Madan Puri (both of whom also became actors), elder sister Chandrakanta, and a younger brother, Harish Puri. He graduated from B.M. College in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Amrish came to Bombay with not even hundred rupees in his pocket and made it so big with his sheer hard work, perseverance, and disciplined lifestyle.When Amrish reached Bombay his brother Madan Puri was already an established actor, known for playing villain roles. Amrish failed his first screen test and had to find a job with the Ministry of Labour.Meanwhile he started performing at the Prithvi Theatre, in plays written by Satyadev Dubey, eventually became well-known as stage actor and won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1979.This theatre recognition soon led to work in television ads and eventually to films at the age of 40.Amrish Puri went on to work in Hindi, Hollywood, Punjabi, Telugu and Tamil films. Though he was successful in all of these industries, he is best known for his work in Bollywood cinema. He has appeared in over four hundred movies. His dominating screen presence & booming voice made him stand out amongst a sea of actors.He played character roles and was well-known as a villain. He had a striking bass voice, the ability to extend his eyes widely out of their eyelids during climatic scenes and an outsize acting style that made him a convincing villain in even the most melodramatic movies.He died in Mumbai in 2005, after a brain hemorrhage at the age of 72.His autobiography titled, 'The Act of Life' was published in 2006, and is seen as the document of the cinema of his times.