Om Puri was one of the finest Bollywood actors. He acted in more than 300 movies, bringing many characters to life. However, as per reports in Wiki Pedia, Puri came from an underprivileged background. When he was six years old, his father who was a railway employee was put behind bars on allegations of theft of cement. This resulted in their family becoming homeless.
To make ends meet, Puri’s brother, Ved Prakash Puri, worked as a coolie (railway porter) and Puri worked in a local tea shop, did odd jobs and collected coal from nearby railways tracks to support his family. He and his brother’s children were later brought up by a maid servant, Shanti.
While working, Puri continued to study. After his primary education, he joined the National School of Drama in Delhi to study theatre acting. A fellow NSD student who became a long-term friend, Naseeruddin Shah, encouraged Puri to follow him to the Film and Television Institute of India in Poona (present-day Pune).
After school, he joined an evening college and started working as a lab assistant to earn some money during the day. “Once, I participated in a play and won first prize in the National Youth Festival. Among the panel of judges was prominent playwright Harpal Tiwana from Punjab Kala Manch. He asked me to join his theatre group. I said I work during the day and earn Rs 125 per month. He said he will pay me Rs 150. That’s how it all started. I later got a clerical job which I left for the passion of theatre and joined the National School of Drama” Puri told Irrfan Khan in an interview on Rajya Sabha TV. His journey from a struggling hesitant English speaker to working in Hollywood and British cinema, is inspiring.
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