Madan Puri | |
|---|---|
 Madan Puri in Jeet (1949) | |
| Born | Madan Lal Puri 30 September 1915 |
| Died | 13 January 1985 (aged 69) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1940–1985 |
| Relatives |
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Madan Puri (30 September 1915 – 13 January 1985) was an Indian actor of Hindi and Punjabi films. His brothers were actors Chaman Puri and Amrish Puri. As a character actor mainly in negative roles (villain), he acted in about 430 films in a career spanning above fifty years.[citation needed]
Madan Lal Puri was born in Nawanshahr, Punjab, in a Punjabi Hindu family, to Nihal Chand Puri and Ved Kaur. He studied in Rahon. He was the second of five children, with elder brother Chaman Puri, younger brothers Amrish Puri and Harish Lal Puri and younger sister Chandrakanta Mehra. He was an cousin of singing sensation Kundan Lal Sehgal.[2]
Puri was one of the doyens of the Indian film industry in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was the first cousin of the singer K. L. Saigal,[1] with whose help he started to make a mark in Bollywood. Once Puri was an established star he did the same for his brother, Amrish Puri, by helping him in establishing himself in the movie world.
Puri had an acting career which spanned over 40 years from the 1940s through to the mid-1980s. He appeared in more than 430 films. His film debut was titled Ahinsa in 1946. Madan made an average of eight films per year, playing villains and negative characters and the hero's or heroine's uncle, father or elder brother, grandfather, police officer and politician. He starred in a number of Punjabi films throughout his career such as Jatti, Jatt Punjabi and so on.[citation needed]
He died in 1985 of a heart attack at the age of 69.[3] He was a resident of R P Masani Road in Matunga, Mumbai, also known as Punjabi Galli, with other actors of that era including the Kapoors. Several films were released after his death until 1989 with his final being Santosh.[citation needed]
Puri's wife, Sheela Devi Puri (Wadhera), died a few years after him. Their son, Lt. Col. (Dr.) Kamlesh K. Puri, published a book about the life and times of Madan Puri titled "My Father, the Villain" in 2015 (the 100th anniversary of his birth).
