Bengaluru: Veteran actor Om Puri who passed away on Friday had a special bond with Kannada cinema. Thanks to ‘AK-47’, a Kannada flick that released in 1999.
Though this film, produced by Koti Ramu and directed by Om Prakash Rao hit headlines for wrong reasons including accidental death of stuntmen during shoot, it made Om Puri a familiar face for Kannadigas. He had played the role of police commissioner against Shiva Rajkumar.
Interestingly, Om Puri’s first Kannada film was released way back in 1977, but it took nearly 20 years for him to get another chance to be a part of the Sandalwood industry.
Condoling the death of this great theatre luminary, Shiva Rajkumar had broken into tears as he mentioned that if things had fallen into place Om Puri would have played a character role in his upcoming film ‘Santheyalli Nintha Kabira’, but due to date issues, it could not materialise.
In a haste, even Wikipedia has listed Santheyalli Nintha Kabira as one of the Kannada films that Om Puri had acted in and it is yet to remove the film from his career list!
Last film of Om Puri in Kannada was Tiger, which was directed by Nanda Kishore. The film had hit the screens in 2016 and it is said that due to Om Puri’s health issues, his shots were completed in Mumbai.
Om Puri’s Kannada movies
- Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane (1977)
- -AK 47 (1999)
- -Dhruva (2002)
- -Tiger (yet to be released)
