Encounter with Om Puri and Divya Dutta, Delhi, Published in
Jagran Cityplus, Delhi
Back to the beginning
After long and eventful journey in cinema, Om Puri is back to where he
started. Well, quite literally. The veteran actor is making a comeback to where
he all began decades ago – theatre.
Just one day before his comeback Punjabi play, Teri
Amrita, was staged in Delhi, the media fraternity gathered at press club for an
informal interaction with the actor. I was one of those lucky few.
A return to an intense medium like theatre after
more than two decades can give jitters to anybody. And that includes even Om
Puri, considered one of the few complete ‘actors’ in Indian cinema and who
started his career with theatre.
“Yes, I am nervous like a swimmer who has seen
water after many years. That is the reason I chose a simple play with a lot of
emotions and a Punjabi play because it is my mother tongue,” he is frank enough
to admit.
“First, the focus is on Amrita (the female lead)
and then it fades and comes on me (Zulfi).”
Divya Dutta, who is playing the female lead in the
play directed by Om Puri himself, was present to promote their venture.
Sharing her experience and feeling on being able to
work with Om Puri, Divya says, “I always knew Om Puriji as an actor. And
working under him as a director and co-actor was a double treat. Each
individual perceives things differently. I remember after I enacted one of my
scenes, Om Puriji also enacted the same scene for me and we were in tears.”
Theatre, Om Puri feels, has evolved a lot compared
to 25 years back, and so has the audience. “Theatre is growing. Before, it was
like why buy a ticket to watch a play? It’ll be good if passes can be arranged.
But now things have changed. Theatre is like classical music.”
He says plays should be made in the language which
people understand. “How many people will come if a play is made in Sanskrit?”
What brings him back to theatre after so many
years? “My grey hair,” he says with a smile.
Character actors are seldom given meaty roles and
this is one reason he has strayed away from cinema. “I have stopped doing
whichever films came my way. I had done a lot of them in the past to fulfil
life’s necessities. I remember, I got Rs 9,000 for Aakrosh and Rs 25,000 for
Ardh Satya.”
Asked about his favourite theatre director, he names
Ibrahim Alkazi, his first guru. “I was honoured when we received the guru
shishya award from a news channel.”
Om Puri gets nostalgic when he recalls his journey.
“My theatre journey began as a teenager when I was spotted by a director of
Punjab Kala Manch during a college play. I got the best actor award and he
asked me to join him. When I told him I work as a lab assistant in my college
and get Rs 125 monthly, he offered me Rs 150. I went with him and learnt the
nuances of acting.”
Puri also lists Shyam Benegal as one of his
favourite directors, saying, “He is like encyclopaedia to me.”
As we all know, Om Puri acted in films, television
and theatre and so I was curious to ask him what was his first love? And the
reply is very prompt, Doordarshan. “I acted in a television series ‘Tamas’. In
one night, one crore people watched it together. It became popular overnight
and people used to wait for that programme. Doordarshan has the maximum reach
even in rural areas, the real India.”
Shifting the focus to present day films, he feels
even though Indian cinema has come a long way, there is a vast scope for improvement
on the technical side. “We have a lot to do to meet international standards.
But, yes, nowadays NSD pass-outs get a lot of respect in the film industry.
During our times, people hardly knew about NSD, not even in Mumbai.”
Doing serious roles for decades, Om Puri generally
comes across as a serious personality. But there’s lighter side to him too.
Sharing a funny experience with his friend and NSD classmate Naseeruddin Shah,
he recalls: “We both were stupid. We thought why should we learn dance and music
when we were actors? Maybe, we did not understand that music helps in
developing voice variation. Finally, when exam day came we were asked to
perform a Punjabi song together and the end result was we scored 17 out of 50.”
He is quick to defend his friend on his controversial
remarks. “Once, a journalist asked me to comment on Naseeruddin’s comment that
he regrets doing art films. I explained that he says something and wants to say
something else. We are recognised because of art films. Otherwise, with such
looks we would have got negligible roles like standing behind the main villains
as his henchmen.”
He also
goes on the defensive when asked to comment on the controversial remarks he had
made at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi during Anna Hazare’s protest, where he had
referred to politicians as “gawars” and “nalayaks”. “I didn’t say anything wrong.
May be, the way I said it was not appropriate. I will be careful with the
choice of words in the future.”
Puri has a lot of expectations from the play. “We
want not only theatre aficionados but also others come and happily buy tickets
and enjoy our play.”
After devoting so many years in acting, any plans
to teach young talent? “We have Majma Theatre Group that gives chance to
talented people. But I am not going to open any school.”
Om Puri has done a lot of political comedies and so
did the thought of becoming a neta ever come to his mind and if so did he ever
try? The veteran actor replies wittingly: “Never got the opportunity. But I
would never begged for any role in politics, nevertheless.”
Turning on a more serious note, he says every
person has his/her own contribution to society but there are more who are out
to destroy than to preserve.
Follow my blog: Mixed Bag
