Remembering Amrish Puri: Rare pictures of the iconic Bollywood villain

Amrish Puri was one of Indian cinema's most respected actors, and is still remembered for his iconic role of Mogambo in Mr India. The actor was born on June 22, 1932, and today would have been his 87th birthday. Puri passed away on January 12, 2005, and was an important figure not only in Bollywood but in Indian theatre as well. He worked with renowned playwrights like Satyadev Dubey and Girish Karnad. Here are some rare photos of Amrish Puri from the Express Archive. (Express archive photo)

Amrish Puri first started off in supporting roles, playing the henchman of the main villain. His ticket to stardom was the 1980 film Hum Paanch. After that, there was no looking back. (Express archive photo)

Amrish Puri acted in more than 400 films between 1967 and 2005. (Express archive photo)

In villainous roles, Amrish Puri is best remembered as Mogambo in Mr. India, Jagavar in Vidhaata, Thakral in Meri Jung, Bhujang in Tridev, Balwant Rai in Ghayal, Barrister Chadda in Damini and Thakur Durjan Singh in Karan Arjun. (Express archive photo)

Amrish Puri was known more as a villain, but he also played many character roles. (Express archive photo)

Amrish Puri worked in regional cinema as well. Apart from Hindi films, he acted in Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil movies. (Express archive photo)

Amrish Puri also left an indelible mark on international cinema as Mola Ram in Hollywood film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). (Express archive photo)

Amrish Puri shared a great rapport with Hollywood director Steven Spielberg, who is quoted to have said: "Amrish is my favorite villain. The best the world has ever produced and ever will!" (Express archive photo)

He has won three Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor, and was even a Sangeet Natak Akademi Award winner. (Express archive photo)

Amrish Puri passed away on January 12, 2005 due to cerebral hemorrhage. He 72. (Express archive photo)