Om Puri is one of the greatest actors in the history of Hindi cinema. In his illustrious acting career, he not only made a significant mark in Indian cinema but also proved the mettle of his acting skills in Hollywood. The actor was nominated for the BAFTA award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in the comedy-drama, East Is East. In a career spanning over four decades, Om Puri has done around 300 films in his career. The legendary actor passed away on January 6, 2017, due to a heart attack.
In a recent interview with entertainment journalist, Siddharth Kannan, Nandita Puri talked about her ex-husband and iconic actor, Om Puri. She talked about his biography, Unlikely Hero: The Story of Om Puri. The book was based on the actor's life and shared a series of never-heard-before anecdotes from Om Puri's personal life, as Nandita Puri penned it. The book was released back in 2009 and created a stir on the internet as Nandita mentioned in the book that Om Puri was involved sexually with his 55-year-old maid at the age of 14.
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In 2009, when the book was released, several people started criticising Om Puri for being sexually involved with his maid. As per multiple reports, Om Puri was furious when he learnt that his wife, Nandita, had mentioned this controversial thing in his biography. However, now, after so many years, Nandita has once again addressed these reports and admitted that Om Puri wasn't furious after knowing about the mention of his sexual relationship with his maid in the book. She said:
"No, he was not upset. When I was interviewing him, my son was very small, I said, 'You are talking so openly about the maid episode, it wouldn't be nice.' He said, 'why? Why are you being such a hypocrite? I was not married, I was not in a relationship, why can't I mention that I did have a little affair with the working class person.' I said, 'Yeah, but I also have a son,' and he said, 'No, he has to know the truth.'"
Further, in the conversation with Siddharth Kanna, Nandita Puri admitted that Om Puri was deeply hurt by the way the media sensationalised his affair with his maid at the age of 14. She stated that Om Puri was furious and stated that his affair with his maid wasn't the highlight of his life. Instead, the media should've talked about his struggles and acting career. Nandita clearly stated that Om Puri had given her the consent to use this sensitive information in his biography. She said:
"What he was upset with was the way it was pulled out. He said, 'That is not the highlight of my life. The highlight of my life is my career, my childhood, my struggle, but this, I wanted to mention.'"
In an old interview with Times Entertainment, Om Puri had responded completely differently to the mention of his affair with a maid in his biography written by his ex-wife, Nandita Puri. The actor lashed out at Nandita and even labelled her decision to write about his affair as 'cheap'. For the uninitiated, Om Puri and Nandita ended their 23 years of marriage in 2016, reportedly due to this controversy regarding his biography. Opening up about the mention of his sexual encounter with his maid, Om Puri said:
"I don't care if she is my wife, I won't let her get away with it. How was I to know she would use the incident from my life to sell her book?"
What are your thoughts on Nandita Puri's statement about Om Puri's reaction to his biography? Do you believe in her words? Let us know.
Also Read: Barun Sobti Promised His Wife He Would Never Kiss On-Screen, Rejected Films, Requested Cuts For It
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