Om Puri still remains my favourite Hindustani actor. This despite the kind of hero worship that other more established actors often get in the Bollywood world..Sharukh Khan, Amitabh Bachan, Ajay devgan just to name a few.
I first noticed his splendid acting in the Patrick Swayze movie, "The City of Joy", a kind of soul searching life redemption kind of movie.
However Om Puri took my eye for his splendid acting in that movie as a honest man trying to earn a living and raising his family in the gutters of Calcutta.
His other memorable role was as George, a British Pakistani in the movie. "East is East".
A real hilarious and enduring tale of a family raised in Salford Manchester in the 70s(remember Enoch Powell? )
He was Mr George who married a British lady and trying to raise his 7 siblings as proper Muslims. I loved his van ride to Bradford..reminiscent of my time too spent in Halifax and bus ride to Bradford normally meant visiting Britain's own India or Pakistan.
On my recent trip to Jakarta as usual i bought my fair bit of cheap DVDs and you can see the look of the DVD girl when i also bought one Hindustani movie, " Billu Barber"!!
Well the reason being that i have recently noticed fine acting displays by one particular actor, Irfan Khan.
He was outstanding in the movie adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's book, "The Namesake".
He also played the role of the interrogating Inspector in the recent big hit, "Slum dog Millionaire"
Well, the movie, "Billu Barber" was a great treat, with Sharukh khan as well playing a key role.
Irfan as Billu though was the central character and he played the role so well, you can feel him in all his humble endeavours and final recognition.
An extra treat to the movie? Om Puri was also featured, now older and nonetheless still giving a gripping performance.
Well, as i watched the movie i cant help realising that here is an actor worthy of taking over the mantle from Om Puri..yes Irfan Khan, Billu the barber!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment