Veteran Indian film star's fury over 'sexed-up' biography

<div><p>Acclaimed Indian actor Om Puri Friday blasted the publishers of a biography about him written by his wife for highlighting revelations about his past sexual encounters and relationships.</p><p>"I was not upset about the book. But I was upset with the way it was presented by the publishers," Puri told an audience at the Jaipur Literary Festival, where he shared a stage with his wife and biographer, Nandita.</p><p>Puri said the publicity put out before the book's launch at the end of last year had focused entirely on details of his past relationships. This then created a media furore during which all the other aspects of his life recounted in the biography were forgotten.</p><p>"Nothing else was discussed, only this," said the 59-year-old actor, who has worked with every major Indian director and is best known outside India for starring roles in films like "East is East" and "My Son the Fanatic."</p><p>"It was a publicity gimmick by the publishers. It was a mistake on their part and it was not tasteful," he added.</p><p>The book, "The Unlikely Hero", tells of the actor's unlikely rise to fame from an extremely deprived childhood and his championing of independent cinema outside the Bollywood mainstream.</p><p>But its launch was dominated by revelations that he had sex with his maid at the age of 14, and his long affair with a woman named Laxmi before he was married.</p><p>"I understand Om being upset. It was no way to introduce his biography," said wife Nandita, adding that the resulting media storm had a heavy impact on their family.</p><p>"It did affect my sanity, and my child was hurt," she said, while adding that she had no regrets about the material she chose to include in the book.</p><p>"They were relationships that have contributed to this man," she said, gesturing to her husband.</p><p>"It was very difficult as a wife to write about it, but a biography should be about a person in their totality, and that means the good and the bad."</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=67529904&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>


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