Though veteran actor Om Puri and his wife Nandita were recently seen together at the Jaipur Literature Festival, walking around hand in hand, reliable sources close to the couple reveal their 16-year-old marriage is on the rocks.
Evidently the couple has been having problems for some time but the last straw was the sexually explicit revelations made by Nandita in her biography of her husband, Unlikely Hero: Om Puri.
The references to Puri’s many sexual relationships, especially with his maid and caretaker, became a key talking point for the media, and the actor and his biographer wife had a very public and bitter spat over it. However, at the subsequent launch events, the Puris literally kissed and made up in public.
Close friends, however, say the people named in the biography were not at all amused by their names being dragged through the muck and Puri has had to shell out a pretty penny to settle with them. In fact, in an interview to a website, Om Puri confessed that some of his college friends were upset at the revelations about his early life in the book, and accused him of being publicity hungry. “This embarrassed me,” said the actor.
Another bone of contention is that Puri’s first wife Seema Kapoor, who he was in love with for a long time before marrying her and who was a huge support during his turbulent early days, has not been mentioned in the biography. Neither have several key people who were instrumental in making Om Puri the internationally famous actor he is today.
Puri has, in various media interactions, hinted that these critical omissions in the tell-all biography weighed heavily on his conscience.
Though Puri denied seeking legal consultation to end his marriage to Nandita, the buzz is that the veteran actor is seriously considering divorce and has even spoken to the famous divorce lawyer Mrinalini Deshmukh earlier this month. When contacted Mrinalini said, “Nothing has been filed before the court yet. However, he is under legal advice on this.”
A close friend of the warring couple said there has been growing tension in the marriage and Om’s growing closeness to his first wife, Seema Kapoor, has only fuelled the fire.
The previous marriage had ended after only eight months when he met Nandita, a journalist, who had come to interview Puri on the sets of City of Joy in Kolkata and stayed in his life thereafter. Puri and Seema have been in touch recently and the friction in the marriage seems to have brought them closer.
Reports also say that Puri has moved out of his Seven Bungalows residence in Mumbai, which he shared with wife Nandita and son Ishaan, and is now staying in Seema’s office and has changed his phone number.
Nandita reacts to reports of split
Ijust don’t know why such stories are being circulated. Our marriage is as normal as any other marriage. Om is very much at home. He hasn’t changed his number either. He left for Delhi yesterday and will be returning on the same day. On Friday, both of us leave together for Cochin to release the Malayalam version of his brography. The Malayalam version is called Pradyunayakam. Mohanlal and Mammootty will be present at the launch and they will read from the book. Doesn’t this explain everything?
I have a feeling that this kind of news is being circulated by those who are jealous of my success. They can’t accept how I, a girl from Kolkata, came down to Mumbai and have done so much. My book was in the bestseller’s list at the recently concluded Jaipur Literature Festival. The others in the list included Gulzar and Chetan Bhagat among others.
My only worry is for our son, Ishaan. He is in Class VI now. I can deal with such reports but it’s hard for our son to face it all.
(टाइम्स ऑफ इंडिया,दिल्ली,29.1.10 में कुणाल एम.शाह की खबर प्रियंका दास गुप्ता से बातचीत पर आधारित)
Evidently the couple has been having problems for some time but the last straw was the sexually explicit revelations made by Nandita in her biography of her husband, Unlikely Hero: Om Puri.
The references to Puri’s many sexual relationships, especially with his maid and caretaker, became a key talking point for the media, and the actor and his biographer wife had a very public and bitter spat over it. However, at the subsequent launch events, the Puris literally kissed and made up in public.
Close friends, however, say the people named in the biography were not at all amused by their names being dragged through the muck and Puri has had to shell out a pretty penny to settle with them. In fact, in an interview to a website, Om Puri confessed that some of his college friends were upset at the revelations about his early life in the book, and accused him of being publicity hungry. “This embarrassed me,” said the actor.
Another bone of contention is that Puri’s first wife Seema Kapoor, who he was in love with for a long time before marrying her and who was a huge support during his turbulent early days, has not been mentioned in the biography. Neither have several key people who were instrumental in making Om Puri the internationally famous actor he is today.
Puri has, in various media interactions, hinted that these critical omissions in the tell-all biography weighed heavily on his conscience.
Though Puri denied seeking legal consultation to end his marriage to Nandita, the buzz is that the veteran actor is seriously considering divorce and has even spoken to the famous divorce lawyer Mrinalini Deshmukh earlier this month. When contacted Mrinalini said, “Nothing has been filed before the court yet. However, he is under legal advice on this.”
A close friend of the warring couple said there has been growing tension in the marriage and Om’s growing closeness to his first wife, Seema Kapoor, has only fuelled the fire.
The previous marriage had ended after only eight months when he met Nandita, a journalist, who had come to interview Puri on the sets of City of Joy in Kolkata and stayed in his life thereafter. Puri and Seema have been in touch recently and the friction in the marriage seems to have brought them closer.
Reports also say that Puri has moved out of his Seven Bungalows residence in Mumbai, which he shared with wife Nandita and son Ishaan, and is now staying in Seema’s office and has changed his phone number.
Nandita reacts to reports of split
Ijust don’t know why such stories are being circulated. Our marriage is as normal as any other marriage. Om is very much at home. He hasn’t changed his number either. He left for Delhi yesterday and will be returning on the same day. On Friday, both of us leave together for Cochin to release the Malayalam version of his brography. The Malayalam version is called Pradyunayakam. Mohanlal and Mammootty will be present at the launch and they will read from the book. Doesn’t this explain everything?
I have a feeling that this kind of news is being circulated by those who are jealous of my success. They can’t accept how I, a girl from Kolkata, came down to Mumbai and have done so much. My book was in the bestseller’s list at the recently concluded Jaipur Literature Festival. The others in the list included Gulzar and Chetan Bhagat among others.
My only worry is for our son, Ishaan. He is in Class VI now. I can deal with such reports but it’s hard for our son to face it all.
(टाइम्स ऑफ इंडिया,दिल्ली,29.1.10 में कुणाल एम.शाह की खबर प्रियंका दास गुप्ता से बातचीत पर आधारित)
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