'I haven't been utilised enough'

Veteran actor Om Puri, who has done several films in the West and has acted in ‘The Hundred Foot Journey’ alongside Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren, says the Indian film industry has never fully utilised his potential.

“It’s not that I’m not respected in the Indian film industry. It’s just that I have not been utilised properly. I’m a character actor and can’t play a protagonist. In the West, the stories revolve around character actors. It’s a regular feature there. But in India, films are mainly about youngsters and love,” says Puri. 

“There’s nothing wrong in that but there’s too much of it. And the ‘under-utilisation’ is not just restricted to me. It also includes other character actors such as Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher," he adds.