The actor showed his wicked best as the head of terrorists in the recently released ‘Kurbaan’. But one can explore Om Puri’s real humble side in his wife’s biography, ‘Unlikely Hero’. The book, which talks about the actor’s tough life journey, was unveiled few days back by the legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan.

Om Puri is well known for his villainous roles, playing the evil mastermind. Like in Jagmohan Mundhra's 'Shoot On Sight' he was also one of the instigating factors in the bombings, and played a far more basic character perpetrating hated. But in 'Kurbaan' he went on to explain, “I'm a suave intellectual with a mind behind my religious beliefs. The people who planned 26/11 or 7/7 had very precise deep and scientific minds. They weren't the rabid illogical kind of religious fanatics who work on their own rationale. And that's what makes my character in 'Kurbaan' far more dangerous.” He is of the opinion that today people with terrorist leanings have begun to emerge from educated, normal, rational households. And thus it became a source for his character in the movie.

Keeping aside the filmy profile of his, one will get to know a total different picture of the actor’s real background. His life has been far from the bed of roses; each struggle a stepping stone towards the success he enjoys today. Rag-picker, tea-shop boy, tuition teacher – Om Puri has donned various roles before he established himself in the cine industry. There were days of poverty and of a hand-to-mouth existence for the family, the actor revealed.

The atmosphere at the book’s launch turned emotional once Om Puri took the stage. He went on to share anecdotes of his life. He shared that he studied in a Municipal school while his wife Nandita Puri studied in an English medium school. Their love blossomed when he was on a shooting location while she had come to interview him. “I told her to write my biography in 1991 but she has been sitting on it. Twenty years ago, Shyambabu (Benegal), who knew some of my childhood incidents, told me to write my autobiography because he could smell a film in it. Those words remained in my mind. But my wife sat on it for 20 years. I had to threaten her that either I will write it myself or I'll get it written by someone else. Within a year and a few months, the biography was ready.”

Before the ‘Unlikely Hero’ came out officially, controversies launched the book first. Om Puri was enraged at the media for highlighting his love affairs alone, instead of his struggles. However, he was not angry with his wife for penning down his intimate incidents. He also apologised to her after his initial public outbursts on her through media. Referring to ‘Unlikely Hero’, Om Puri stated, “It’s a story of millions of Indians.”

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