Amrish Puri Biography | Life Story and Unknown Facts

In this post we are sharing biography of most popular villain of Bollywood. His name is Amrish Puri remembered for playing iconic roles in Hindi Movies. Amrish Puri acted more than 450 cinemas and most of them were successful. So, scroll down to read Amrish Puri life story, career, unknown facts.

Amrish Puri Biography | Life Story And Unknown Facts

He was a brilliant actor with a powerful voice. Be it theatre or silver screen. Amrish Puri left his mark everywhere. When audience applauded him, he said, "Mogambo is happy." Amrish Puri was born in Punjab's Nawanshahr on 22nd June 1932.

Early life of Amrish Puri :

His mother was Sardarni Ved Kaur and father was Sardar Nihal Singh Puri. From five children Amrish Puri was the fourth child. His two elder brothers Chaman Puri and Madan Puri were also famous actors.

Amrish Puri did his graduation from BM college in Shimla. He followed in his elder brothers’ footsteps and came to Mumbai. This was the time when his elder brother Madan Puri had established himself as a villain.

Struggle of Amrish Puri :

But Amrish Puri's fate had something else in store for him. Amrish Puri failed the first screen test. And he found a job with the Employees' State Insurance Corporation. But for how long his talent would have remained hidden? In 1961 theatre stalwart Ebrahim Alkazi encouraged Amrish Puri to work in theatre.

In 1961 he actively joined theatre. Later, Amrish Puri started working as famous theatre artist Satyadev Dubey's assistant. In many interviews Amrish Puri has called Satyadev Dubey his teacher.

He was acting on stage but silver screen was far away from him. What's even more surprising is that Amrish Puri did a government job for 21 years. He became so well-known as a stage actor that he won the Sangeet Natak Academy award. Slowly he ventured into TV commercials. And at the age of 40 he did his first film.

Films Career of Amrish Puri :

According to a famous story, during a drama play a famous director spotted Amrish Puri. He was signed for 'Reshma Aur Shera'. Amrish Puri was one of those actors who wasn't renowned only for his acting abilities but also for his baritone voice. Very few people know that Amrish Puri used to practice daily for 3-4 hours to make his voice more powerful. On one hand he was emerging as a brilliant villain.

On the other hand, he was garnering accolades in parallel cinema as well. Amrish Puri won critical acclaim for Shyam Benegal's films  like 'Nishant', 'Manthan', 'Bhoomika' and 'Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda'.

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His talent became so recognizable that Hollywood director Steven Spielberg also casted him. The story behind this is also very fascinating. Actually, American director Steven Spielberg wanted to take Amrish Puri's screen test. And he invited him to America. But Amrish Puri flatly refused. He said if he wanted to take his screen test he will have to come to India.

And that is exactly what happened. Americans had to come to India for Amrish Puri. And the contract was signed within a few days for 'Indiana Jones and the temple of doom' movie. Amrish Puri's character was critically acclaimed.

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Amrish Puri was a complete actor. He played not only villainous roles but also some positive characters that bring tears to the eyes. 'Ghatak' movie is a fine example. Amrish Puri played powerful roles in 'Gardish', 'Muskurahat' and 'Virasat'.

The character that he played in 'Virasat' movie was earlier rejected by Dilip Kumar and Rajesh Khanna. Finally, he got the role but the character that immortalized Amrish Puri as a villain was Mr.India's Mogambo.

Mogambo was one of Hindi films' unforgettable villains. Amrish Puri was such a villain that it was challenging for even the greatest actor to face him. If that happens Arun Verma won't be able to face anyone.

Amrish Puri Family | Amrish Puri Son

If we talk about Amrish Puri's personal life he got married to Urmila Diveker. He had two children with her son Rajeev and daughter Namrata. Amrish Puri died on 12th January 2005 due to brain hemorrhage.

Amrish Puri Death :

He was 72 years old. Amrish Puri might have started his career on the silver screen at the age of 40. But as an artist his career had started long back. Whatever be the medium, Amrish Puri left his mark.

There came a time when the mention of villain in Indian cinema would bring Amrish Puri's name to the mind. Visit our site to read more famous person's biography.