Amrish Puri: Bollywood actor called 'world's best villain' honoured by Google Doodle
Bollywood actor Amrish Puri appeared in more than 200 films and was described by Steven Spielberg as his “favourite villain”.
The Punjab-born actor, who would have been 87 today and is being honoured by a Google Doodle, is most widely-remembered for playing the menacing villain Mogambo in 1987 cult classic Mr India - where he got his signature line, “Mogambo khush hua” (Mogambo is pleased).
His bad guy performance was widely touted as one of the best in Bollywood history.
It was not until the age of 39 that Puri got his big break acting in the 1971 Bollywood film Reshma Aur Shera after decades spent working in theatre and doing voice-overs.
Ten years later he made it into Hollywood with his role in the Oscar-winning film Gandhi.
Director Steven Spielberg recruited Puri to play Mola Ram in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984, a role he initially turned it down.
Spielberg said: “Amrish is my favourite villain. The best the world has ever produced and ever will”.
In total, Puri appeared in more than 200 films in more than a dozen languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Malayalam, Tamil and English.
He was born on 22 June 1932 and died on 12 January 2005 after suffering a rare form of blood cancer called myelodysplastic syndrome. His two older brothers, Madan Puri and Chaman Puri, were also actors.
The Google Doodle was done by Pune-based artist Debangshu Moulik.
Moulik said: “I hope this Doodle encourages people to look into Amrish Puri’s entire career and life and to derive some inspiration from his hard-working nature and perseverance.
“He came to be a prominent figure in the Bollywood scene even though he failed his initial screen tests.”
