Om Puri is deemed one of the greatest actors in the Indian film industry. He amassed a huge fan following because of his stellar performances in films and on stage.
The late actor’s last film’s title was changed from Rambhajjan Zindabad to Om Prakash Zindabad. His wife Nandita Puri has cleared the air in an interview about the claims made in the book about them.
What did Nandita Puri say about the alleged rift with her husband?
In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Nandita said that the story about her differences with the late veteran actor was made up by gossip journalists. When asked if Om Puri was ever upset with her for revealing about his sexual encounters, she replied, “No, these claims are false and doctored. I don’t believe in Wikipedia. The idea of writing a book came when I met him. He said, ‘You must write about me. My childhood is like Charlie Chaplin.’ His tough childhood inspired me to write not just about Om Puri, but the whole cinema movement and the people he worked with. It took me 16-17 years to write the book, despite several others wanting to write his biography.”
She further said, “Then I came to know that there was someone else who wants to write the book. So, she was quite upset and she told Om about it as her ex-husband was Om’s colleague. Om said, ‘I cannot say no to Nandita. You both write, whosoever writes better.’ Her cousin was a yellow journalist gossip film writer. He has been banned from the entire Indian publications. The wanted to teach me a lesson. So, Om felt bad about the whole thing. My publisher Roli Books and Tehelka office were on the same building. So, they would share the snippets.”
A file photo of Om Puri and wife Nandita Puri | Source: InstagramShe concluded by saying, “So, these guys got the snippets from there and said this is a bad book and claimed that the script wasn’t shown to Om Puri. Om said, ‘Let them write anything.’ But if you pull put a passage out of context, it can sound very bad. Om has never been bothered about his past. He was very clear about it and gave me everything in audio. Then these film gossip journalists took it over. That caused a little bit annoyance amongst us.”
Controversy surrounding Om Puri’s book
The 2009 biography of the actor, Unlikely Hero, authored by his wife Nandita C Puri, had stirred controversy with the actor expressing displeasure over his wife revealing some of his most private sexual incidents.
A file photo of Om Puri biography | Source: InstagramOm Puri and Nandita Puri relationship timeline
Om was initially married to Seema Kapoor, actor Annu Kapoor’s sister, in 1991 but they parted ways eight months later. In 1993, he got married to Nandita Puri and they have a son together, Ishaan.
