The 66-year-old actor is survived by estranged wife Nandita and son Ishaan. “I am in shock right now. It’s unbelievable. He passed away around 6-6.30 AM. He was lying on the kitchen floor,” Nandita told PTI. “I can’t talk now. I am at Cooper hospital for the postmortem,” she further said.

Apart from winning several accolades, including two National Awards for “Arohan” and “Ardh Satya”, he was honoured with the Padmi Shri, the country’s fourth highest civilian award in 1990. Hailing from Ambala in Haryana, Puri studied at the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune.

He was also an alumnus of the 1973 class of the National School of Drama, where Naseeruddin Shah was a fellow student. The actor, known for his versatility and power-packed performances, made his film debut in 1976 with the Marathi film “Ghashiram Kotwal” and went on to act in several Indian, Pakistani, British and Hollywood mainstream commercial films. 

From Bollywood to Hollywood, from independent to art films, Puri gave several acclaimed performances. A critically acclaimed actor, Puri featured in films like “Ardh Satya”, “Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron”, “Mirch Masala”, “Aakrosh”, “Paar”, “Maachis” and others.

His other notable films include “Bhavni Bhavai”, “Sandgate, “Dharavi”, “Gupt”, “Dhoop”, “Yuva”, “Don” and “Agneepath”. More recently, he was seen in movies like the Salman Khan-starrer “Bajrangi Bhaijaan”, and “Ghayal Once Again”. 

Puri earned international fame with films like “The Hundred Foot Journey”, “City of Joy”, “Gandhi”, “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”, “Charlie Wilson’s War” and “East Is East”. The veteran actor also had an impressive body of work on television, starring in projects like “Bharat: Ek Khoj”, “Mr Yogi”, “Kakaji Kahin”, “Rishte”, “Aahat”, “Safar”, “Sea Hawks”, “White Teeth” and “Canterbury Tales”.

(Feature image source: PTI)