Indian cinema has lost one of its finest actors with the untimely demise of Om Puri on Friday morning. The veteran actor, 66, died following a massive heart attack at his Andheri residence. The news of his demise has come as a terrible shock to many of his industry friends, who had met him at an engagement party on Thursday night. In fact, Puri's estranged wife Nandita was also present at the event. Talking to BT, she said, “Om and I had attended an engagement do last night, and he returned to his flat after that. This morning I got a call saying he was found slumped and inert in the kitchen. Our son Ishaan, 18, is beside himself with grief.“

While the actor never let anything come in the way of his work, for his immediate family at least, his failing health was always a concern. Just two weeks ago, Nandita had told a journalist how Puri's life might be at stake because of his drinking. Her worst fears turned true yesterday morning. The actor was also reportedly suffering from depression and had sought psychiatric help for it.



KUNDAN SHAH
I never went past our professional equation, but he was extremely friendly. He knew the art of getting into the skin of the character effortlessly. I remember he played a crass filmmaker in Bollywood South Indian filmmaker in Bollywood Calling. Towards the end of the film, you'll love that character. He made every role so believable. He stayed miles away from caricaturing, which is the easier way of playing a character. Fifteen days before we started shooting for Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, I had run out of actors. Om came on board. In the Mahabharat scene, he decided to wear the goggles and enter the stage. I can't believe I let him do that.

NAWAZUDDIN SIDDIQUI
I spoke to Om saab two days ago on the phone. We were about to shoot a scene for Nandita Das' Manto. He told me, “Beta saath mein kaam karenge.“ We were looking forward to it post our stint in Bajrangi Bhaijaan. I don't think he remembered that I worked with him in the late 1990s in a television serial called Sea Hawks, which also had R Madhavan in it. I was young at that time. We had done an episode together. Omji loved cinema and would not mind talking about it no matter what time of the day it is. We often spoke of our days in NSD. He was from the batch of 1973 and I was from the batch of 1996. We had common professors that we spoke about.

KABIR KHAN
I can't think straight right now. We were shooting till a few days ago. And he seemed extremely hail and hearty. I still remember taking my first film, Kabul Express, to him. He turned it down because he had an issue with his back. Eventually, he agreed to do a five-minute cameo in Bajrangi Bhaijaan. And in those five minutes, the man left a mark. He played his part so well that it stood out in the entire film. This time, in Tubelight, he had a lengthy role. He's shot most of it and right now, if you ask me, I don't know what and how will the part shape up. Frankly, that's not even the point. The industry has lost one of its warmest and finest actors who could slip into any role. Once the camera was off, he'd laugh and joke with everyone. He had the warmest hugs to offer. I didn't know the one I got a few days ago, would be the last of his kind.

SUDHIR MISHRA
Puri saab was a stalwart from whenever I can remember. He's a star who showed the way forward to so many people with unconventional faces. An entire generation of actors came into being because of him. He inspired me. I was in class 11 when I heard of this acting stalwart from National School of Drama. I watched some of his plays then and was blown away. He became a legend in cinema because of the kind of work he could pull off. There's not one kind of role that he hasn't played. Ardh Satya's theatrical run is unbelievable. He made films like Dharavi and Tamas possible. He gave these films so much depth. People like him don't perform a scene to draw attention to themselves. They just perform. You automatically will notice them. It's unreal how he could be so angry and fiery on screen when he was such a jovial person in real.

MAHESH BHATT
I was hurled back into the times before Arth was even made. Om and I'd spend nights together, drinking and talking about movies, art and life. His performance in Aakrosh left the industry shell-shocked. Ardh Satya took it a few notches higher from there. And then, the narrative moved from strength to strength. Om broke the construct that you need to be a certain personality type to be an actor, and then, to be a lead actor. That was quite an achievement. The old ideas, with every passing film of his, were deconstructed. His personal life, over the years, went through a crisis. Alcoholism had been overpowering his life. He had lost control over his life. I must say that his intense eyes and passionate thoughts play on my mind as I bid farewell to a beloved friend.

AMOL PALEKAR
My friendship with Om Puri dates back donkey's years. We were young men, I was older than him. We were theatre actors. I watched his performance at a festival in Kolkata in a play called Udhwasth Dharamshala. I was enamoured to put it modestly. That's where our friendship began. We worked together in Bhoomika where he barely had screen time. But we had some great interactions when I directed him in Dum Kata. We were together for almost a month. Everyday, after work, we'd set up our little adda and have discussions about everything under the sun. I remember, there was a book being written on him. He brought the writer to my house and stayed over for a few days. That's the last time I probably spent that much time with him.

SHABANA AZMI
It's too shocking. It was a night before he died that Shyam babu (Shyam Benegal) and I were talking about him. I even met him recently and every thing seemed okay. And all of a sudden, one morning, when I wake up, it's over. Om, my friend, my colleague of decades and a dear part of our lives, is no more. Even if I try hard, I wouldn't be able to isolate one memory or one incident involving us. Everything that we've done together, every moment that we've shared together as colleagues and friends, is special to me.

PRAKASH JHA
While it goes without saying that Om Puri was a brilliant actor, what was most amazing about him was that he was easy. He seemed to be so effortless and yet was so effective in any role he played. Most of it, he was a good soul, which him a good actor. While working with him on Mrityudand, I used to be so impressed with his focus, on the set. He was always giving space to the other actors.

SAI PARANJPYE
Apart from being a great actor, Om was one of the dearest and closest friends I had in the industry. To talk about him in the past tense is already so difficult. It was such a joy working with him. I directed him in Sparsh. I had also directed him in Begaar, a telefilm. He would go to any length to play his part. He was supposed to attend my book launch. I had to stop him because he had made a controversial statement about the jawaans. I wish I hadn't stopped him from attending the do.

KETAN MEHTA
Om and I started our journey together, even before we joined films. We were in the Film Institute together. Along with Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil, Om belonged to the new wave of cinema in the 1970s. When we did our first film, Bhavni Bhavai in Gujarati, together we were just out of the institute. Even then, he had a reputation as a great actor, having done incredible work in theatre. Om, Naseer, Shabana and Smita worked on the film without charging a fee. During the shoot, he would write his lines for the next day. When those chits would be found, the joke went around that Om doesn't have to learn his lines ­ he just has to put the chits under his pillow and the lines are in his head the next morning.

SUNIEL SHETTY
He was my friend on screen, and even off screen. I've spent so much time on so many movies with him that it's unbeliev able he's no more. I don't know what I'd tell his son Ishaan when I meet him, those are difficult conversations. It was Om who introduced me to some quaint eateries near my farmhouse. At work, his timing was difficult to match. He played his characters so well, you'd actually begin to feel it's not Om Puri you're standing with.

BOMAN IRANI
The first time I ever met Om Puri, or had a sight of him, was at the premiere of Kalyug. I was a teenager who had sneaked in. There were stalwarts walking in the room and then, there was this lanky man standing with Shyam Benegal. I saw him in the film. He stood out in a bit role. Then, I met him formally at Locarno Film Festival where his film and mine were being screened. By that time, Aakrosh and Ardh Satya had already been ingrained in my head. He encouraged me a lot. And several times after that, we would end up chatting about work. Very often, we'd meet at corridors before entering a venue. I remember, we were shooting for Don and Don 2 in Kuala Lumpur and Germany respectively. On both occasions, we'd spend nights in his room, confabulating. He'd never bring his seniority or any other air on the set.
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With inputs by Hiren Kotwani and Renuka Vyavahare