Om Puri wanted a photo chart of his ‘mentors’

MUMBAI: The day before he died, veteran actor Om Puri went into a photo studio that his family used often, with an unusual request.

“He wanted to make a photo chart (see box) titled ‘My Mentors’,” says Rajeev Bhatija, the 43-year-old owner of Mohan Colour Lab in Versova, “with the names and photographs of 10 people who had moulded him into the actor he was.”

He walked in hair unkempt, tired after two days of shooting for the film Tubelight, but as energetic as ever, Bhatija says, and asked him to start taking notes. “I asked him why the Om Puri wanted nine names — the late film-maker Harpal Tiwana, actor Naseeruddin Shah, theatre director Ebrahim Alkazi, actor and director Girish Karnad, film-makers Govind Nihalani and Shyam Benegal, casting director Priscilla John, theatrical agent Jeremy Conway and Lis Nelson.

urgency and he said there was no better time to give his mentors a tribute.”

In order of importance, Puri dictated nine names — the late thespian Harpal Tiwana, actor Naseeruddin Shah, theatre director Ebrahim Alkazi, actor and director Girish Karnad, directors Govind Nihalani and Shyam Benegal, casting director Priscilla John, theatrical agent Jeremy Conway and Lis Nelson. “The last name he asked me to write was his own. He had something to do with it, he said, but not as much as the others. I put down Mr Om Puri, and he said, ‘Om Puri. I’m only Om Puri,” says Bhatija.

NO FOUL PLAY IN OM PURI’S DEATH: POLICE

The Oshiwara police on Sunday said they did not suspect any foul play in the death of actor Om Puri who died of a heart attack at his residence on Friday. The police, however, are awaiting the final postmortem report to ascertain the cause of death.