Chennai, Aug 22: Om Puri looks very much like the friendly neighbor down-the road.

At 'Lights On', a forum organized by Sathyam Cinemas, Chennai on Aug. 22, he interacted with the audience, following the premiere of his new film, 'The Hangman'.

The ball was set rolling with director K.Hariharan recalling the days he spent with the veteran actor at the Film Institute, Pune.

That was in 1976, when the new wave of cinema had set in bringing forth meaningful films sans the gloss and glitz of the commercial movies.

Talking of his film, 'Ghashiram Kotwal', in which Om Puri played the title role, Hariharan referred to Om as a 'director's actor'.

It brought back memories for Om who interrupted to say, ''I visited Chennai when the film was released here. It was the first time I ate in a five star hotel, the Chola Sheraton."

Om Puri said that when he came from Punjab to National School of Drama, he didn't have films on his mind.

''I just wanted to do theatre. I knew I couldn't qualify myself to be a part of glamorous films. But after seeing Satyajit Ray's work, I realized that ordinary faces could be a part of cinema and I felt close to this kind of cinema", explained the twice national award winner. On a question from Hariharan on how he was able to breathe life into his films, Om said, ''A good script always helps. My major works have been with Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani and Satyajit Ray".

The film 'Arohan', based on a true story of a farmer's fight for land for 14 years and who died two years later was one such.

Going down memory lane, he narrated an incident on the sets of Satyajit Ray's 'Sadgati' where he plays an untouchable.