Early Life and Background
Amrish Singh Puri was born in Nawanshahr (former Tehsil of District Jalandhar), Punjab to Sardar Nihal Singh Puri and Sardarni Ved Kaur as the third of five children. His siblings include elder brothers Chaman Puri and Madan Puri (both actors) and elder sister Chandrakanta and younger Harish Puri. He later moved to Shimla and graduated from B.M. College, Himachal Pradesh.
Amrish Puri came to Mumbai in the footsteps of his elder brothers Chaman Puri and Madan Puri (both actors), who was already an established actor known for playing negative roles. He failed his first screen test, and found a job with the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC). At the same time, he started performing at the Prithvi Theatre, in plays written by Satyadev Dubey. He 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 late age of 40.
He went on to work in Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Hollywood, Punjabi, Malayalam, 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 films. His dominating screen presence and baritone voice made him stand out amongst the other villains of the day. He is best known for his role as Mogambo in the 1987 blockbuster, Mr. India and for his portrayal of Mola Ram, the antagonist in Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Read more about this topic: Amrish Puri
Famous quotes containing the words early, life and/or background:
“I doubt that I would have taken so many leaps in my own writing or been as clear about my feminist and political commitments if I had not been anointed as early as I was. Some major form of recognition seems to have to mark a woman’s career for her to be able to go out on a limb without having her credentials questioned.”
—Ruth Behar (b. 1956)
“I suffer whenever I see that common sight of a parent or senior imposing his opinion and way of thinking and being on a young soul to which they are totally unfit. Cannot we let people be themselves, and enjoy life in their own way? You are trying to make that man another you. One’s enough.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“They were more than hostile. In the first place, I was a south Georgian and I was looked upon as a fiscal conservative, and the Atlanta newspapers quite erroneously, because they didn’t know anything about me or my background here in Plains, decided that I was also a racial conservative.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)