Nawazuddin Siddiqui on the cover of An Ordinary life. (Image courtesy: Nawazuddin Siddiqui)
Highlights
- Nawzuddin says Sunita's case is a "mere stunt for cheap publicity"
- He's given evidence in memoir that I'm the one he's talking about: Sunita
- Nawazuddin Siddiqui withdrew his memoir days before its release
Nawazuddin Siddiqui and his memoir
An Ordinary Life (which never made it to the bookshelves) are featuring in headlines again. Nawazuddin had retracted his memoir after actresses Niharika Singh (
Miss Lovely co-star) and Sunita Rajwar (National School Of Drama batch mate) alleged that the actor has misrepresented facts about their respective relationships and
Ms Rajwar also filed a defamation suit against the 43-year-old actor. According to a
Mumbai Mirror report, Nawazuddin retaliated with a counter notice, calling Sunita's case a "mere stunt for cheap publicity" adding that the Sunita in the memoir is not Sunita Rajwar (instead some other Sunita). Now, Sunita Rajwar told
Mumbai Mirror: "He is lying that I am not the same Sunita. He himself has given all the evidence in his memoir that says I am the one he is talking about."
"First, he wrote my name in the book along with National School of Drama, although without surname, but there was no other Sunita in NSD during our batch. Then he referred to that girl as 'Pahadi Girl', again there was no other girl from the hills, other than me. Then he also mentioned that the Sunita in his book was a roommate of famous television actress Achint Kaur, because of whose influence she might have left him, so it's clear as I was sharing accommodation with Achint Kaur," she elaborated.
She also said that in the memoir, Nawazuddin mentioned that he performed in a play with 'Sunita' and shared a picture of the cast in the book, which shows Sunita Rajwar standing next to Nawazuddin.
Sunita Rajwar has also discussed the discrepancies of Nawazuddin's version of events about their relationship in this lengthy Facebook post:
Before Sunita Rajwar,
Miss Lovely actress Niharika Singh had also alleged that Nawazuddin Siddiqui had twisted facts when writing about their relationship. "He (Nawazuddin) obviously wants to sell his book and it would appear that he is willing to exploit and disrespect a woman just to do so. He has chosen to fabricate stories and manipulate a fleeting relationship.
None of what he has written has been with my knowledge, let alone my consent," Niharika told news agency IANS in October, when excerpt from
An Ordinary Life went viral.
Days before the book was set to release,
Nawazuddin Siddiqui withdrew it and posted this tweet:
Nawazuddin Siddiqui was last seen in
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz. His 2013 film
Monsoon Shootout released in India last week.