Om puri brother

Madan Puri played the evil men character in his acting career in Hindi cinema. And he totally stands out as the best of the baddies. He used to belong to a generation where villains used to show knife and get claps from audiences. But his character was downright evil ('Gumnam', 'Mr. X in Bombay', 'Blackmail' and even was drawn straight out of comic strips in films like "Vidhata" or "Amar Prem". He had an acting career that spanned over five decades and he went to act over 430 films in his career. Madan Puri was the best of the baddies in two phases of his career. The first phase was when he acted with Dev Anand and Manoj Kumar films. The second phase was when he got an opportunity to act in Amitabh Bachchan’s blockbuster films. In 1960’s he was noticed in successful films like 'Kala Bazaar', 'Waqt', 'Neela Akash', 'Godan' and 'Ziddi' etc. He even acted in good character roles in films like 'Pyaasa Sawan' (1981), 'Ek Bar Kaho' (1980), 'Amar Prem'(1971) or 'Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaye' (1977).

He was also cast as baddies along with Pran, Jeevan, Prem Chopra, Kader Khan, Amjad Khan or even Shatrughan Sinha in many films. His notable films also include ‘Deewar’,’ Vidhata’, ‘Mazdoor’, ’AgarTum Na Hote’ where he stood out really amidst actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar or Rajesh Khanna even. He never got himself typecast, and he played roles of father, uncle, police officer, and a politician too. Madan Puri was really a versatile performer who ruled the film industry by doing at least eight films per year in mid-60’s and late 70’s. His brother Amrish Puri was also the renowned villain of Indian cinema. Madan Puri’s another brother Chaman Puri too appeared in many films as a villain. It was a matter of a chance that the three brothers got a chance to play the villain role in films. Chaman Puri’s hit movie was ‘China Town’, Madan Puri’s was ‘Upkar’ and Amrish Puri’s was Mr India. Madan Puri had acted with all generation actors from Dilip Kumar to Sunny Deol. The actor was born in Lahore (Pakistan) in 1915.

He died in Mumbai on January 13, 1985. His wife had passed away long back, and he survived with his three sons. Although he belonged to the film industry, his sons were not drawn to glamour world at all. Even his brother, Amrish Puri's children, did not join films at all.

Puri Family Tree (Infographic Family Tree)