Om Puri may be one of India’s most famous and successful movie stars, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to make art films any more.
Lounging casually in the Intercontinental’s Proof Lounge alongside his young co-star Aqib Khan, the star of West Is West talked about his yearning to get back to the movies that started his career.
“My first love is to do art films,” he says in his booming voice. “It’s a pity to consider cinema solely as a source of entertainment when cinema is capable of so much more. Entertainment with a political purpose makes so much sense – but with humour. You can’t deny that, but to concentrate only on how much many a film makes, to compromise keeping that in mind, is unhealthy.”
Not surprisingly, Khan, who plays the teenaged son Puri takes back to Pakistan so he can discover his roots, says acting with Puri was magical.
“I learned so much just watching him work,” says the young charmer. “And just watching him speak, how down to earth he is, the way he spoke to the people, he’s a great role role model.”
Puri’s watching India and India cinema make its way into the western world with a lot of interest. And he doesn’t mind if foreigners move in to make movies, acknowledging that he did like Slumdog Millionaire.
“I don’t mind Indian poverty being shown, as long as you give perspective to it. Certain scenes were a bit much,” he allows with a smile, “like the boy falling into the shit.
Read a review of West Is West here.
