MUMBAI, India: Veteran Indian actor Om Puri, who successfully straddled movie careers in Bollywood and the West, died on Friday in Mumbai.
Puri, 66, suffered cardiac arrest, his friend and actor Anupam Kher told Reuters.
Puri cut his teeth in the 1980s with alternative art cinema that found a niche audience in India, playing several memorable characters that depicted the angst of the times.
He also worked in several Hollywood and British films, including "The Reluctant Fundamentalist", "East is East", and most recently in "The Hundred-Foot Journey", opposite Britain's Helen Mirren.
"He showed that you didn't have to be 'fair' and 'good-looking' to be a protagonist," Saeed Akhtar Mirza, who directed Puri in one of his earliest films, "Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai" (Why does Albert Pinto get Angry?), told Reuters.
"It was just the force of his personality and his performance."
Several Bollywood stars, fans and Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to pay their respects.
"Who dare say Om Puri is no more? He lives through his work," actor Kamal Hassan tweeted.
An alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India and later, the National School of Drama, the actor's work in Govind Nihalani's "Ardh Satya" (Half-Truth) and later "Aakrosh" (Rage) won him several accolades.
Along with Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil, Puri was seen as one of the stars of the alternative cinema movement that contrasted sharply with Bollywood's often crass content.
His distinctive baritone, and ability to switch seamlessly between art house, Bollywood, Hollywood and British film, made him an international star, one of the few Indian actors to cross over to the West before the likes Irrfan Khan and Priyanka Chopra made the jump. (Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar)
Indian actor Om Puri, star in Bollywood and the West, dies at 66
Indian actor Om Puri, star in Bollywood and the West, dies at 66
Sydney man jailed for mailing reptiles in popcorn bags
- The eight-year term handed down on Friday was a record for wildlife smuggling, federal environment officials said
SYDNEY: A Sydney man who tried to post native lizards, dragons and other reptiles out of Australia in bags of popcorn and biscuit tins has been sentenced to eight years in jail, authorities said Tuesday.
The eight-year term handed down on Friday was a record for wildlife smuggling, federal environment officials said.
A district court in Sydney gave the man, 61-year-old Neil Simpson, a non-parole period of five years and four months.
Investigators recovered 101 Australian reptiles from seized parcels destined for Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Romania, the officials said in a statement.
The animals — including shingleback lizards, western blue-tongue lizards, bearded dragons and southern pygmy spiny-tailed skinks — were posted in 15 packages between 2018 and 2023.
“Lizards, skinks and dragons were secured in calico bags. These bags were concealed in bags of popcorn, biscuit tins and a women’s handbag and placed inside cardboard boxes,” the statement said.
The smuggler had attempted to get others to post the animals on his behalf but was identified by government investigators and the New South Wales police, it added.
Three other people were convicted for taking part in the crime.
The New South Wales government’s environment department said that “the illegal wildlife trade is not a victimless crime,” harming conservation and stripping the state “and Australia of its unique biodiversity.”
