Amrish Puri is popularly remembered as Mogambo from Shekhar Kapur’s 1987 superhero film, Mr India, and as Kajol’s father Chaudhary Baldev Singh from Aditya Chopra’s Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. However, not many know about Amrish Puri - the person, his theatre background and about acclaimed filmmaker-actor Girish Karnad’s role in his career. In an exclusive conversation with Pinkvilla, Puri Saab’s actor-grandson Vardhan Puri describes his ‘dadu’ as a gentle giant, a family man, an obsessed artist, a staunch disciplinarian and someone who belonged to nature.
Most of his fond memories with his grandfather have been in the latter’s bedroom. “I used to spend a lot of quality time with my dadu and dadi Smt. Urmila Devi Puri. He was the one who introduced me, my sister Sachi, and my cousins to all the magical filmmakers, writers and actors. We used to watch a lot of cinema and indulge in some amazing food too while we were at it. Dadu wasn’t a foodie per se, but he loved his simple food like Bhindi and Maa Chhole Ki Dal. Sometimes he would even indulge in Italian and Chinese cuisines. He preferred vegetarian food, never smoked and was a complete teetotaler,” says the proud grandson.
Amrish Puri with grandson Vardhan
Vardhan informs that the first film that he saw with Puri Saab was Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman starrer classic, The Shawshank Redemption. “I have seen so many Charlie Chaplin films with him as well. By now, I must have seen some 104 Chaplin movies, out of which 35 to 40 I have seen with my grandfather. I remember, he would make me watch the same film, every single night for an entire week, which after a while would make the process repetitive for me. But I soon realised how much I was learning about cinema by doing that. We would watch it first for the performance, then second time for the camera angles, third time for the screenplay and so on. In fact, three years back when I was doing a screen test for a Hollywood film, I had done a monologue from Chaplin’s The Great Dictator that had gone viral on the internet,” adds Vardhan. (Check out the post here)
Vardhan also talks about a cartoon show that Puri Saab was in absolute love with. “Dadu was obsessed with Tom & Jerry, he could watch that show for hours at stretch. He in fact gave a lot of credit for his acting prowess to Tom & Jerry, and considered them as two of the greatest characters of all time. We would even watch the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet together, and whenever a hunt sequence would come up, he would watch it with childlike glee,” Vardhan remembers fondly.
The young actor adds that he has learnt a lot about discipline and the importance of being in love with one’s work from his superstar grandfather. “You know, there were times when he would come home at 2: 30 am without an ounce of tiredness in his body and would be gearing up for his early morning shift immediately. He would come home whistling and talking about how great his scenes for the day were. And despite sleeping so late he would always be up early in the morning for Yoga and for his morning stroll in our garden. He would do that while humming KL Saigal, Kishore Kumar or Madan Mohan songs,” Vardhan reminisces.
My grandfather was so revered in the theatre circuit that Yash Chopra Saab, Subhash Ghai Saab, Manmohan Desai Saab, Raj Kapoor Saab, Dev Anand Saab and Sunil Dutt Saab would come to watch his plays
Vardhan Puri
He further informs that it was Girish Karnad who had spotted Puri Saab and offered him his 1973 Kannada film, Kaadu. “Mr Karnad had told his producer that if my dadu wouldn’t play the role of Sarpanch in his film, he wouldn't make it. But dadu did, and he soon became a sensation in the South. Then director Bapu gave him Hum Paanch (1980) and that changed his life completely. In fact, my grandfather was so revered in the theatre circuit that Yash Chopra Saab, Subhash Ghai Saab, Manmohan Desai Saab, Raj Kapoor Saab, Dev Anand Saab and Sunil Dutt Saab would come to watch his plays, and would watch them sitting on the floor like ordinary folk. They were all his fans,” shares Vardhan.
He further adds that Puri Saab’s Mr India has an important stature in his family. “I wasn’t born when the film was released, but my family says that the day it was unveiled we had welcomed two Lakshmis in our house. One of course because the film had released and second because my sister Sachi was born on the same day, May 25, 1987.”
Mr Aditya Chopra had narrated the film to him scene by scene without a script in hand and till his last breath dadu would say that DDLJ’s was the greatest narration he had ever received
Vardhan Puri
Interestingly, Vardhan was even a part of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’s (DDLJ) narration. “I was sitting on dadu’s lap when Mr Aditya Chopra had come home to narrate DDLJ. When the narration got over, dadu had tears in his eyes and had immediately agreed to be a part of the film. Mr Chopra had narrated the film to him scene by scene without a script in hand and till his last breath dadu would say that DDLJ’s was the greatest narration he had ever received,” informs Vardhan.
He adds that till today not a day goes by when he and his family don't remember Puri Saab. “We talk about him when we eat his favourite food, or watch his films, hear his songs or make his beloved Kada Prasad every week. We don’t feel like he is missing. We are sure my dadu and dadi are around us, always showering us with their blessings,” Vardhan says emotionally.
