When Om Puri was connected with Malwa

INDORE: It was not a good morning for

theatre lovers

of the city as they woke up to the news of sudden demise of veteran

Bollywood

actor Om Puri on Friday.

As the news spread via WhatsApp groups and through word-of-mouth, artists paid tribute to the theatre and film actor and recalled his trips and visits to Indore.

The last time Om Puri came to the city to attend a theatre festival hosted by

Abhinav Rangmandal

, dedicated to playwright Bansi Kaul. Puri had stayed here for three days. He had felicitated Kaul back in December 2015.

Puri had also visited near-by town of Ujjain and Dewas during his stay. In Dewas he visited classical music maestro Pt Kumar Gandharva's daughter

Kalapini Komkali

and spent some time with them. He also visited Ujjain during the Simhastha this year, which was his last visit to the area. Puri had also been planning to produce three films with Abhinav Rangmandal group's artists and director

Sharad Sharma

. "It was on Monday that I was speaking with him and he was full-of-life as always. We chatted about his plans to launch his 19-year-old son in the film industry after he saw his son's acting in a play at school. We were planning on preparing a play along with Abhinav Rangmandal through which his son could get a chance to further learn acting," Sharma added.

Theatre artists from the city shared pictures clicked with Om Puri during the festival in December 2015 on social networking sites.