Om Puri and Revathi in Lenin Rajendran's 'Puravrutham'.Thiruvananthapuram: Malayalam film industry mourned the death of Om Puri and remembered him as a 'perfectionist actor' and 'down-to-earth human being' who mingled with local people and film crew without the burden of his celebrity status.
Though he acted only in three films in Malayalam in his career spanning over four-decades, the 'Ardh Satya' star had kept warm relations with many in the Mollywood. Eminent filmmaker Lenin Rajendran, who introduced Puri in Malayalam through his critically-acclaimed movie 'Puravrutham' in 1988, said the actor was very particular in keeping warm contacts.
"Puri was one among the very few close friends I have in the film industry. He was the first person I used to call, whenever I went to Mumbai. He would send me a car and take me to his flat there," Rajendran told PTI.
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"He called me even two months back when he came to Kulathupuzha in connection with some work. He asked me whether we could meet before he go to the airport. But, unfortunately, I could not make it due to some inconvenience," he said.
Om Puri had enacted the role of a local communist leader Vannathan Raman of north Kerala in 'Puravrutham'. Rajendran, who is also the chairman of Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), said his search for an actor, who has befitting features of a brave revolutionary, had ended in Puri. "The protagonist in Puravrutham had to have an angry face and intense eyes. Puri was a perfect choice for my character," he said, adding that that friendship continued throughout these decades without losing the intensity.
The 'Mazha' director said Puri was a perfectionist in his work and did not mind spending time to achieve maximum perfection to his character. "The dialogues in Malayalam was a bit difficult for him in the initial days of shooting. Even though, I said ok to a scene, Puri would not be satisfied and try to achieve maximum perfection. He used to repeat difficult words and try to use in the film set to make its pronunciation easy," he said. Remembering Puri's down-to-earth nature, Rajendran said not only with the director and fellow actors, he had behaved nicely and built friendship with everyone in the set.
"The shooting was in a deep forest in Tirunelly in high range Wayanad. It was a usual scene those days that Puri interacting with tribals there. He could easily develop a bond with local children also," the director said.
Puri acted in another Malayalam film 'Samvalsarangal' in 1988, but it did not hit screens due to some reasons. After a gap of nearly three decades, he came back to Malayalam through Kannan Thamarakkulam's Aadupuliattam, a horror thriller, last year. Kannan said no actor other than Puri could play the role of the mystic scientist in the film, which demands a lot of depth and emotional intensity.
Actor Jayaram, who was the hero in the movie 'Aadupuliyattam' said Puri's death was a big loss to the country and would never forget the moments he worked with the versatile actor.
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala condoled the death of Puri and said he was a versatile actor who enriched the film world through his divergent characters.
