Puri made his debut in the mainstream films genre in the 1976 Marathi film "Ghashiram Kotwal", based on a Marathi play of the same name by Vijay Tendulkar. It was directed by K. Hariharan and Mani Kaul in cooperation with 16 graduates of the FTII. He has claimed that he was paid "peanuts" for his best work. Along with Amrish Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil, he was among the main actors who starred in what was then referred to as art films such as "Bhavni Bhavai" (1980), "Sadgati" (1981), "Ardh Satya" (1982), "Mirch Masala" (1986) and "Dharavi" (1992).