Amrish Puri

Amrish Puri is one of India's most recognizable stage and Bollywood film actors, having appeared in over four hundred films.While working a day job at an insurance corporation, Puri began performing in local theater productions, eventually becoming a well-known actor in works by playwright Satyadev Dubey. He was almost 40 when he made his film debut in "Prem Pujari" (1970) alongside his brother Madan Puri. Puri worked through out the 1970s and 1980s, appearing mainly in Hindi films where he become known for his villainous characters. His role as the supervillian Mogambo in the Bollywood science fiction film "Mr. India" (1987) is one of his most iconic performances and audiences have made his line "Mogambo khush hua" ("Mogambo is pleased") one of the most quoted lines in Indian cinema. Puri's other defining role came when Steven Spielberg cast him as the dramatic Thuggee leader Mola Ram in the international blockbuster "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984). The role required him to shave his head, a look he kept for many years after. He went on to appear in films like the marriage drama "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge" (1995) and the culture clash drama "Pardes" (1997), and acted in Punjabi, Telegu and Tamil films throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Puri died in Mumbai, India on January 12, 2005.