KOCHI: They come across as such a happy couple that you are almost embarrassed to ask about the recent hullabaloo regarding their split. But sober as ever, Om Puri rubbished reports that his marriage was on the rocks after the release of the biography written by his wife Nandita Puri.
“A sensational part of the book was pulled out and publicised by the media.
The book was introduced to the public as a piece of cheesy literature foregrounding my relationship with a working class woman, which is just a part of the book,” he says.
Om says he was annoyed at first since Nandita couldn’t defend him on a TV show. “Nandita’s book is originally about Om Puri, his amazing childhood and a career spanning 32 years in both commercial and offbeat cinema. I said this kind of introduction will make a bad impression on the public and the book will sound cheap. The media misinterpreted my statement as ‘Om Puri called his wife a cheap writer’. That’s how the whole controversy started,” he says.
The next thing that hit the headlines after the book release was that the Puris were heading for a breakup, the husband irked by the revelation of his dark secrets. “I think we were victims of sensational media.
You know they are always on the hunt for news and this time they decided to take us. You cannot call it journalism, it’s just tabloid writing,” Nandita joins in.
Nandita says the process of writing her husband’s biography was difficult. “You have to approach your subject from an objective angle.
Since I was a journalist and writer that part was less difficult for me. As a wife I had access to the minutest details of his life but I decided not to include things that have no relevance,” she adds.
Nandita says in spite of all the hubbub her book is getting a warm response and was at the fourth position next to Chetan Bhagat’s book in the Jaipur Literary Fest. “The other three books on top were fiction. Mine was the only non-fiction,” she says.
Nandita, who has already penned a collection of short stories and a screenplay based on one of the stories, says she is more of a fiction person at peace with urban writing.
“You cannot call a script your own baby,” says the author who is now busy with a historical novel. “The book travels through three cities - Kolkata, Mumbai and England. The pre-Independence British Calcutta it goes to scenic Wales and the storyline involves media and Bollywood,” she says.
The couple is in the city for the release of the Malayalam translation of Nandita’s book titled ‘Prathinayakan’.
“Kerala is my favourite destination and I am really happy to have the first vernacular translation in Malayalam. Next will be Hindi since so many people approached me asking for a Hindi version at the Jaipur Literary Fest,” she adds.
navamy@gmail.com