Om Puri Was A Very Emotional Person, Says Govind Nihalani

Veteran film director, cinematographer, screenwriter and producer Govind Nihalani, celebrated for depiction of real human angst in landmark ventures and critically acclaimed films - Aakrosh, Ardh Satya, Hazaar Chaurasi ki Maa Tamas - and more in Hindi cinema gave a direction to the new wave or parallel cinema in India.

The magic of his cinematic storytelling was in his ability to bring to life veracious characters drawn from diverse strata of society, traversing intense emotional trajectories.He started his career as a cinematographer in 1962 and later decided to induct into direction and presented his debut film Aakrosh featuring many NSD graduates and Late Om Puri was one of them.

Remembering his dear friend and frequent collaborator at a discussion at the 19th edition of Bharat Rang Mahotsav, the international theatre festival, conducted by National School of Drama, he said, “Om Puri was like a wrist watch. A watch looks like craft and shows you the time but its mechanism is not seen or heard." Using the conceit, Nihalani lauded Puri for his impeccable art of effortlessly emoting the expression veraciously and intensely.