‘My book needs no moral policing’

Unlikely Hero: The Story of Om Puri, the biography of veteran actor Om Puri, written by his wife Nandita Puri, has been in news for all the wrong reasons even before its formal release. While Om Puri chastised his wife publicly for revealing some of his most private experiences, he later apologised to her.

An upset Nandita holds the publisher (Roli Books) and the media responsible for blowing certain parts of the book out of proportion and sensationalising it. “This is the publisher’s mistake. Even the media has been irresponsible in handling the biography of a person who commands respect both nationally as well as internationally. When some paragraphs and lines are dropped, the meaning changes completely. It is not only disturbing but also pathetic,” lashes out Nandita who is a journalist herself. “The media only wants to sensationalise things at the cost of breaking relationships. They are behaving like the moral police a la MNS (Maharashtra Navnirman Sena). My book doesn’t need it. My honesty has been met with in a cheap manner,” says Nandita, who has decided not to speak anything more on this topic to preserve their dignity.

“We have ample trust in each other and Om was sure I would not misinterpret anything. I am happy that our relationship has strengthened with this incident.”

What’s worse, Nandita and Om’s son, Ishaan, too was affected by the controversy. “My kid is just 11 and he is sensitive. But being an intelligent boy, he has taken everything in his stride. He too wants to be a part of the film world and I have explained to him not to get upset with such reports,” says Nandita, whose book is to be released by Amitabh Bachchan and Naseeruddin Shah.