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Oscar nominations: Somebody remembers Om Puri

Arthur J Pais

Check out the list of film critics who have compiled lists of their favorites snubbed by Oscar nominations this week, and you will find Jim Carrey on many lists. Carey gave a standout performance as the eccentric, mercurial and often mean-minded stand-up comedian Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon, an expensive Milos Forman movie that grossed a disappointing $35 million in America.

But who would remember Om Puri, whose performance as an anguished and confused cab driver in a bleak English city in My Son the Fanatic, astonished Newsday several months ago. Its critic said there could not be a better performance by an American actor this year.

But My Son the Fanatic was not even an also-ran art-house film. The Indian community did not find it appealing; Pakistanis and Bangladeshis did not want to think about it. And the mainstream audiences had no interest in an interracial romance.

It failed to make even $100,000 despite glowing reviews from major publications and television critics.

No surprise, then, the film was not promoted for the Oscar nominations by distributor Miramax.

But at least one critic remembered the movie and Om Puri this week while compiling the list of Oscar-worthy performances that were overlooked.

Bob Ivry writing in The Record, a New Jersey newspaper, acknowledged that while the Oscar nomination were kind to some newcomers, it was unfair to keep out talents like Om Puri.

"We are happy for M Night Shyamalans and Chloe Sevignys of the world, yada-yada-yada," Ivry wrote. "But we are pig-ripping mad for the deserving ones who will be watching the galaâ on March 26."

"Do yourself a favor," wrote Ivry, "and rent My Son the Fanatic; Om Puri's performance as a conflicted immigrant cabby in industrial England is a gem in a memorable film."

Ivry could take comfort now that another Om Puri film, East Is East, is due soon, again through distributors, Miramax.

It is difficult to predict how the film will do in America.

But in England, where the play of the same title was a huge hit, East Is East is one of the biggest hits of the year. With its box-office approaching $18 million. Box-office analysts are predicting it would reach $20 million.

The movie, about an autocratic and religious Pakistani immigrant father who worries about the impending war between Pakistan and India but cannot see the emotional battle zone in his own home, is expected to be a major contender for British Film and Television Awards this year.

Next year, Mr Ivry, Om Puri, if not the film, could be a contender for the Oscar.

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