Goodbye Inspector Anant Welankar!

Confined to the cold four walls of my sarkari house due to an unprecedented snowfall in Shimla in decades, I had little to do but reflect on the recent happenings. A white out and capitulation of the state capital's infrastructure before the fury of nature made me sombre. In the dark of the night without electricity, darker thoughts crept in to occupied the mental space. One such thought was the untimely demise of the celluloid giant, OM PURI.

Om Puri is no more! World cinema has lost an actor par excellence. His departure is a colossal loss to the Indian cinema in particular as Om Puri with his contemporaries like Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil redefined the parallel cinema and drew crowds to theatres who not only accepted it as an important genre in filmmaking but longed for more and more of it.

He had his period of struggle like all newcomers. But it was just a  matter of time for the audiences and critics to hail the exceptional talent of Om Puri.  Film industry showered all its awards on him as the best actor, supporting actor and for lifetime achievement. He was also awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of our country.

Om Puri appeared in 300 odd Bollywood flicks including commercial and art cinema and Hollywood movies.

I recall a number of his films like Ardh Satya,, Agneepath, Pyar To Hona hi Tha, Vinashak, Farz, Maqbool., Dev, Mumbai Express, Don-2, Ghayal, Gupt, AK-47, Mukhbir, Dabangg, Bin Bulay Baraati and many others in which he played a cop. His portrayal of Commissioner Yashwant Sinha, ACP Malik, Inspector Udham Singh, ACP De Souza, Inspector Khan and Inspector Anant Welankar left an indelible mark not only on the viewers but on us, the policemen as well. He played different ranks of the police and types of the police with remarkable understanding and ease. He looked very much like a policeman on the street and not a super cop flaunting his six-pack abs and taking on the baddies of the world singlehandedly.

Om Puri’s stern looks and rich baritone particularly suited the police roles. The versatile actor in him provided life like presentation of the character that not many in the industry have succeeded to do. One of his National Awards for best actor came from his role as a police Inspector in Ardh Satya and twice he was nominated for the best supporting role as a police officer in Ghayal and Gupt.

It was particularly in the highly acclaimed film Ardh Satya that Puri played Inspector Anant Welankar and virtually lived the situation of a policeman in a corrupt system and society. Anant Welankar’s dilemma is the dilemma of every cop who goes through the same emotional and professional journey or chakravyuh. 

एक पलड़े में नपुंसकता

एक पलड़े में पौरुष

और ठीक तराज़ू के काँटे पर

अर्ध सत्य.

Om Puri will be missed on the silver screen.  We in the police will also miss you Inspector Anant Welankar. RIP!