Om Puri was hugely influential in my life growing up. His early 1980s films (Ardh Satya, Sadgati, Godhuli, Bhumika, Aakrosh and way too many others) helped my young mind understand acting and talent in its most utterly natural state. 

Like too many in the industry, Om Puri has now died too young. While the era of 'Art Movie' or Parallel Cinema or "samanantar cinema" that he and his contemporaries (Smita Patil, Shabana Aazmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Amrish Puri, Farukh Shiekh among others) helped initiate is long gone in its original form, it has nonetheless, had a long and meaningful impact, perhaps the most meaningful of any, on the Indian film industry. 

I will miss Om Puri. I actually haven't seen a movie he starred in in maybe 10 years. An yet still, I feel like I always knew him. His kind. Reassuring.