Bad guys make the most interesting characters. Whenever we watch a movie that draws a clear line between good and evil, we have usually hated the antagonist far more than we have liked the protagonist. Movies are supposed to be about heroes and we are supposed to root for them. However, as a viewer, ever so often you find yourself far more captivated by the hero's antithesis. When you watch this man in the silver screen as Mogambo, you are awed by his persona and style. A man who defies substance and Amrish Puri ranks high in it.

This 72 year old Mogambo died of brain haemorrhage on Wednesday morning in Mumbai. He had been ill for almost two weeks.

Born on June 22, 1932, Amrish Puri made his Bollywood debut with Reshma Aur Shera in 1971. Much later filmmaker Shyam Benegal cast him in memorable roles in films like Nishaant, Bhumika and Manthan.

Amrish Puri whose career spanned across more than 30 years in Bollywood has featured in almost over 300 films.

But it's Shekhar Kapur's MR.INDIA that gave him a permanent place in Bollywood's hall of fame. No other villain in Bollywood could match with his persona except Gabbar Singh of Sholay fame. Amrish Puri wasn't the original choice for the role. It was titled for Danny Denzongpa but Shekhar Kapur opted for Amrish at last. Before we go to the interesting facets of MR. India, let's peep into Amrish Puri filmi background a bit.

Amrish Puri, the younger brother of character actor Madan Puri, initially screen tested for a hero's role in 1954. When the producer rejected him, saying that he had a 'crude and harsh face' Amrish turned his attention to the theatre and also lent his voice to several advertisement jingles. When he was almost 40, director Sukhdev signed him for Reshma Aur Shera. But when producer Sunil Dutt took over as the director of the film, like the camels, Amrish Puri blended into the background. It was another long wait before art filmmaker Shyam Benegal in films like Nishaant, Manthan and Bhumika cast Amrish Puri, now a famous stage actor. Amrish till this date owes his success to Shyam Benegal and in a recently televised Zee TV show he accepted it.

The year was 1987; Shekhar Kapur had earlier made his stint in Bollywood with the classic Masoom. Masoom dwelt on a husband-wife relationship but MR. India was different. MR. India presented Hindi cinema's only invisible hero. In MR. India, Amrish Puri (Mogambo), a comic-psychotic, fascist villain - lives in a self-contained island. He plans the annihilation of India and hankers after a formula to become invisible. Arun (Anil Kapoor) runs a household full of cute orphans and cook Calendar (Satish Kaushik). Seema (Sridevi), a journalist who hates the brats, joins the household.

 Mogambo wants to evict the orphans and turn their home into an arms warehouse to penetrate into this country. One day, Arun stumbles upon a bracelet/wristband left to him by his scientist father. This wristband could render Arun invisible. With the help of this band, Arun becomes Mr. India - an invisible, ordinary Indian who promises to destroy all exploiters. Finally Mr. India, Seema and the kids destroyed Mogambo's empire.

Amrish Puri was a late entry in MR. India. The film was almost 60 per cent complete without him when they decided to take him on as the villain. Shekhar Kapur or Javed Akhtar must have suggested Amrish's name. Amrish liked the look of the character. It was something he had not don before. Shekhar asked him to design the looks for his role. Amrish thought for a while and dwelling on comics for a while came out with something different.

Amrish Puri enacted the role of Mogambo in a stylized manner. The rest of the people are natural, only Mogambo seems like a caricature from a comic. The line "Mogambo khush hua" became quite a rage. Amrish says it differently at different places, and the effect of the film is tremendous. Mogambo has become a household name all over the world. Wherever there are Indians, they know Mogambo. It's even become synonymous with Amrish Puri. You'd expect kids to be scared of him, but Amrish says that even to this day, children come up to him and say "Uncle, Uncle Mogambo khush hua."

 Amrish Puri bows down before the screenplay of hit duo Salim-Javed. Salim- Javed master in their own right has given Amrish certain dialogues in it that worked for him. Amrish when in the movie speaks about his plans of annihilating India; you can see the venom in his eyes. It transforms into lust seeing Sridevi. He is ruthless with his people who fail to do his work. Amrish Puri in every scene has been picture perfect. Like Mr.Bachchan, Amrish has his voice going for him. His keen eyes and his voice added bonus to MR. India's success.

Villains are far more interesting simply because in film world, there are many more ways to be bad than there are ways to be good. This is especially true in the world of mainstream Indian filmmaking where writers and directors constantly find the need to reinvent the nature or severity of the hero's opposition in each film, while keeping the definition of the hero intact.

This necessity to repeatedly place a different hindrance in the hero's path has created some of the most memorable characters Indian cinema has ever seen. Be it Dr. Deng of Karma or Gabbar Singh of Sholay or Mogambo of MR. India, the brilliance with which each of these characters has been fashioned has also fostered some of the finest performances ever witnessed on the Indian silver screen. Amrish Puri is today's one of India's finest actors and will leave a legacy of insurmountable acting.

Amrish Puri - Gallery

Recent Stories
Reminiscing Smita Patil
Suchitra Sen, reigning queen of Indian Cinema

Archives