Amrish Puri’s 87th Birthday

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again—and you might end up like Indian film actor Amrish Puri, who overcame an early setback on the way to fulfilling his big screen dreams. Today’s Doodle by Pune-based guest artist Debangshu Moulik celebrates the life and legacy of the renowned actor, born in Punjab on this day in 1932. Puri landed his first role at age 39 and went on to portray some of the most memorable villains in the history of Indian cinema.

The younger brother of character actors Madan Puri and Chaman Puri, Amrish auditioned for a lead role in 1954 but was rejected. After working in the theater and doing voiceover parts, he made his Bollywood debut in 1971’s Reshma Aur Shera. A decade later, he broke into Hollywood as Khan, a supporting role in the Oscar-winning movie, Gandhi.

He was later cast as Mola Ram in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, after initially turning down director Steven Spielberg’s offer. “Amrish is my favorite villain,” said Spielberg, who persisted until Puri said yes. “The best the world has ever produced and ever will!”

Appearing in more than 200 films in over half a dozen languages—including Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Punjabi, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, and English—Puri gave one of his most memorable performances at age 55. Playing Mogambo in the 1987 cult classic Mr. India, Puri’s deep-voiced delivery of the dastardly line “Mogambo khush hua” (“Mogambo is pleased”) would become his signature.

Guest Artist Q&A with Debangshu Moulik

Today's Doodle was created by Pune-based guest artist Debangshu Moulik. Below he shares his thoughts behind making the Doodle:

Q: Why was this topic meaningful to you personally?
A: I have been watching Amrish Puri's performances in various movies since I was a kid and have grown up watching him play different characters. Hence, it was a really humbling experience to be invited to make the Google Doodle for his birth anniversary.

Q: What were your first thoughts when you were approached about the project?
A: When I was first approached for this project I felt a mixture of pride and happiness, plus I was a bit scared because this is one of the biggest projects that I have worked on. But as I worked with Lydia (the Art Director) it has come to be one of my favorite projects. I had a ton of fun during the process of making it.  
 

Q: Did you draw inspiration from anything in particular for this Doodle?
A: I looked at a lot of typography and colors found in old hand-painted Bollywood movie posters and in the streets of India for inspiration. For the final Doodle, most of the elements like the typography, inks, and the background have been hand-painted traditionally and then later composited digitally to celebrate the hand-painted movie posters.
 

Q: What message do you hope people take away from your Doodle?
A: I hope this Doodle encourages people to look into Amrish Puri's entire career and life and to derive some inspiration from his hard-working nature and perseverance. He came to be a prominent figure in the Bollywood scene even though he failed his initial screen tests.

Early drafts by guest artist Debangshu Moulik