Nawazuddin's biography released earlier this month (Courtesy Nawazuddin Siddiqui)
Highlights
- Nawazuddin's biography is being considered for re-writing
- The publishers reportedly sold some 2,000 copies already
- The star endorsement for the biography was reportedly called off
Nawazuddin Siddiqui's stony silence on the controversy surrounding his biography was suddenly broken
with a tweet announcing the withdrawal of his book on Tuesday evening. However it appears the backlash was not the only reason why Nawazuddin decided to retreat. Nawazuddin's biography titled
An Ordinary Life: A Memoir was made available for online purchase on October 25, ahead of which explosive excerpts about his past relationships made him the subject of certain accusations. Actress Niharika Singh (who co-starred with Nawazuddin in
Miss Lovely) and Sunita Rajwar, both of who finds mention in the book, alleged misinterpretation of facts in the biography.
The backlash also came
in the form of a complaint with the National Commission for Women (NCW), filed by a Delhi lawyer on Ms Singh's behalf. Now, sources close to the actor have told
mid-day that the star endorsement Nawazuddin was expecting at the book launch was called off. "A senior Bollywood star was supposed to grace the book launch, but backed out following the controversy,"
mid-day quoted a source as saying. According to the source, the NCW has also asked to see the actor: "NCW too has summoned him following the complaint. To avoid any further mess, he thought it best to withdraw the book,"
mid-day was told. Nawazuddin's biography was to be launched in Mumbai later this week.
The report adds that a rewritten version of
An Ordinary Life: A Memoir may be expected to hit the stands but "It's way too early to comment," said Rituparna Chatterjee, who's co-authored he book with the actor. A source close to the publishing house told
mid-day: "All details of his marriage and personal life will be removed in the new version." Published by Penguin India, Nawazuddin's biography has sold some 2,000 copies online already and the distributors have been asked to return the remaining, as per the
mid-day report.
Last week,
Niharika Singh called out Nawazuddin for "fabricating stories" in a strongly-worded statement, denying a relationship beyond a few months: "Nawaz and I had a brief relationship during the making of Miss Lovely that lasted less than a few months. So today when he paints me as a woman in fur enticing him into her bedroom with candles, or desperately calling him and mailing other women on his behalf, I can only laugh." Her reaction was to a different tale told by Nawazuddin: "...I began a relationship with Niharika Singh, a relationship which I did not know then would last for almost one and a half years."
Sunita Rajwar also objected to the nature of Nawazuddin's account in a Facebook post titled "An Ordinary Life Of Extraordinary Lies?" Ms Rajwar wrote she broke up with the actor because their relationship was the subject of every joke for Nawazuddin, which left her disgusted. In his biography, Nawazuddin mentions she left him because he was in the struggling phase of his career.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui is best known for having starred in films like
Gangs Of Wasseypur,
Badlapur and
Raman Raghav 2.0. 2017's
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz remains the actor's last movie.