We're On A Role

Hooray For Hollywood's Mister Nice Guy


A funny thing happened, shortly after I posted Om Is Where The Art Is, about Om Puri playing the role of the late General Zia in the movie Charlie Wilson's War, which imdb says is ``a drama based on a Texas congressman Charlie Wilson's covert dealings in Afghanistan, where his efforts to assist rebels in their war with the Soviets have some unforeseen and long-reaching effects.''

I emailed a friend of mine (I won't tell you his name for the moment) to see if he knew about Puri's involvement in the film, which also stars Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. In a few hours, I had this reply waiting for me in my email inbox.

It was a simple, brief message for a man who has never thumped his chest about his considerable achievements. ``Dare I add,'' said the email, ``I am also in the movie, playing Avi Perlman...''

So, like any good journalist, I demanded details. ``Tell me more, tell me more,'' I replied, noting that I sounded like one of the chorus members in Grease.

This might be a good time to reveal the name of the person who was exchanging emails with me. Hollywood knows him as Erick Avari and he was a few years senior to me at school. In all my years of communicating with him, he has never been the sort of bloke to boast about his track record in films. Only when I ask for details does he - very modestly - reveal them.

So, because I was twisting his arm, he replied with customary graciousness.

``I play Avi Perlman, an Israeli businessman who is trying to get money from the US via Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) a congressman from Texas, to build a defence industry in Israel. His disappointment in not getting it is understated. I have worked with several Indian actors in the past (I played the central role in Dancing in Twilight and Kal Penn played my son) and am currently playing Sendhil Ramamurthy's father on the hit TV show ``Heroes''. Am juggling three projects at the moment so I'm a little pressed for time but will write more when I get back toward the end of the month.''

As I know from checking Erick's site regularly, `Dancing in Twilight' is directed by Rob Roe, with the writing credits going to Rishi Vij. Also featuring in the film are Sheethal Sheth and Artee Kumar.