Om Puri recounts the time spent with Patrick Swayze during the shooting of
City of Joy and the friendship they shared thereafter.
It was when my wife Nandita got a call from New York that we first heard of Patrick Swayze’s death. We knew about his illness. But it still is devastating news, very tragic because he was a very dear friend.
I have fond memories of Patrick. He was very sensitive to Calcutta’s poverty. I remember the day he arrived in Calcutta for the shoot. He was jetlagged and like a zombie. And within the first few hours of his arrival, the director asked me to take him on a tour of the city. I disguised myself as a rickshaw puller and showed him around.
The director’s motive was to give him a culture shock. But soon, Patrick was in love with Indian culture, the food, and films, and everything else that went with it.
One day during shooting, he took two boys from the slums (who were part of the film) for a swim and dinner at a five-star hotel. The hotel authorities had objected to the boys being there, but Patrick wouldn’t hear of it. He argued with them saying, they were his children and that he was going to make sure they had a dinner and swim. That showed me his humane side.
Patrick used to tell me, “Om, you intimidate me. Yoy remind me of my father, your attitude and temperament is like his.” But he had a funny side too. Once when we were shooting in London, it was very cold and Patrick kept everyone in good spirits with his sense of humour.
Our three-month shooting schedule took us to Japan and Australia. Once in Tokyo, Patrick was upset with something personal. He stayed put inside his suite. No one had the guts to knock on his door. The director and producer requested me to wake him up.
He opened the door when I knocked. He looked bleak, but he let me in.
We chatted for a while and he agreed to come out. “Give me some more time,” he said. Then he wanted to know why I was not going to Australia. I told him that it was visa problem.
Patrick asked the producer to get it sorted out. It was Saturday evening and we were to leave for Australia the next day, Sunday, when the embassy would be closed. But Patrick used his influence and got the embassy to open for some time to do the paperwork. By 11 am the next day I had my visa. We left for Australia that evening.
In Australia over a glass of wine during a charity fund-raiser we were asked to speak on stage. I was touched by his kind words for me. He liked my performance. In his humourous style, he said I deserved an Oscar nomination for the Best Supporting Actor and that if I didn’t get it, someone would get killed.
Over the years, we were in touch over email — Nandita more than me towards the end. He was kind enough to write the foreword of my biography and we were discussing that.
I will always remember my friend as a gentle person, someone with no tantrums. I love his films, Ghost and Dirty Dancing.
(As told to Ismat Tahseen)
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