Personal details
- Birth Date: 1950-10-18
- Height: 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
- Birth Location: Ambala, Punjab, India
- Children: (separated, 1 child) Ishaan Puri
- Children: (divorced) Ishaan Puri
- Professions: Actor, Additional Crew, Music Department
Om Puri was one of those rare actors who just slipped into any character like it was a second skin. Born in Ambala, Haryana, with a dad who worked on the railways and served in the army, he wasn’t exactly born into the glitz. He studied at the Film and Television Institute of India and the National School of Drama (Naseeruddin Shah was in his batch, how’s that for legends in one room?). Puri’s debut was with Ghashiram Kotwal in 1976, and he never really stopped. He did everything from the grittiest art films to full-blown commercial flicks, not just in India but in the UK and US too. He once joked he got paid “peanuts” for his best work—classic. He was unforgettable in films like Ardh Satya, Aakrosh, Sadgati, and Mirch Masala, usually playing the underdog or the guy fighting the system. And then he’d pivot and do something totally different—like being Jimmy’s manager in Disco Dancer or a strict cop in A.K. 47, a Kannada blockbuster. He nailed the role of a Pakistani father in East Is East; people in Britain still talk about that. Hollywood? Yeah, he was in City of Joy with Patrick Swayze, Wolf with Jack Nicholson, and even popped up in Charlie Wilson’s War with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. He wasn’t just serious, though—he had killer comic timing in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, Chachi 420, Hera Pheri, and more. TV or film, comedy or drama, he did it all and left a mark every single time.
Om didn’t exactly have the luckiest start in life—eight siblings, yeah, eight, all gone too soon because, honestly, rural healthcare back then was just tragic. Diseases, no proper doctors around, and that was it. Out of everyone, he only really remembers a few names: Gyan, Kabli, and Baby. Those are the ones his mom used to mention, probably with that look in her eyes you never forget. And then there’s Vedvati, the eldest sister. She had her own family, a little daughter, but fate didn’t cut her any slack either. She passed away young, again, sickness just sweeping through like it owned the place. It’s wild—so many voices and lives, all gone before Om even got the chance to know them properly. The whole thing kind of hovers over him, you know? Like a shadow that never really goes away.
Man, Ardh Satya isn’t your run-of-the-mill cop drama. You’ve got Om Puri tearing it up as Anant Velankar, this super conflicted, straight-arrow cop stuck in the middle of a system that chews people up and spits them out. The poor guy’s dealing with a nightmare of a father at home, and at work, it’s just as bad—corruption everywhere you look, politicians pulling the strings, his own ideals getting crushed every day. He meets this woman, Jyotsna, who’s like a breath of fresh air, but honestly, nothing really fixes his mess. The film’s loaded with tension, frustration, and that feeling you get when you’re screaming into the void and nobody’s listening. It’s gritty, real, and you can basically taste the sweat and exhaustion. And, not gonna lie, Om Puri? Absolutely legendary. The ending just stays with you, you know? Not your typical Bollywood cop flick—this one's got teeth.
October 18, 1950
5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
Konidela Ram Charan
Ambala, Punjab, India
Yes, Ishaan Puri
74 years old