She's his wife and now his biographer. Nandita Puri tells sunday Mid day how living with the legendary om puri for 16 years has helped her write Unlikely Hero Om Puri
She's his wife and now his biographer. Nandita Puri tells sunday Mid day how living with the legendary om puri for 16 years has helped her write Unlikely Herou00a0Om Puri
How long is the biography?
It's 208 pages my editor cut me down to size. I mildly protested because the unique part of the book was the childhood and it got cut.
Om apparently wanted you to write his biography when he first met you in 1991. Why did it take you 18 years?
I first met Om in 1991; he was shooting for City Of Joy and I was a cub reporter with The Telegraph, Kolkata. We all wanted to do Patrick Swayze's interview, but I was sent to get Om's and Shabana Azmi's interviews. I met him, sparks flew and then when I started dating him, Om wanted to give me some work so that we could hang out together. After six-seven months, he said, "My story is almost like Charlie Chaplin's childhood. Why don't you write a biography?" And I'd only been a journalist for eight months!
We got married in 1993 and when I came to Mumbai, Om brought up the biography again. I felt then that I wouldn't be objective and I didn't have enough of a perspective of cinema. In 2002, I signed a contract with Roli, but I was still busy with a book of short stories and a novel.
Om felt I was giving the biography a step-motherly treatment, so I finally got down to it. It was hard work; I had to get in touch with Jack Nicholson, Patrick Swayze, Mike Nichols, Tom Hanks, Ben Kingsley and Richard Attenborough. I'm happy it's coming out now; Om is turning 60 next year, so the time is right.
As his wife, how was it writing about his relationships?
That was the main reason I hesitated. It's easy to write about his childhood, drama, film school days, career. But to write about the man at home and Om Puri the husband, the canvas is huge. You have to pull out things without making it messy or washing dirty linen in public. I had to keep my 11-year-old son Ishaan in mind, to whom the book is dedicated. I didn't want him to be embarrassed. Yet I wanted to be honest about relationships.
As a wife, it was difficult for me to approach his ex-girlfriends and ex-wife. Two ex-girlfriends contributed positively to his life. Now his relationships are only one chapter of the 14 in the biography.
Are you worried that only the relationships are being talked about?
Yes, there's so much more to the biography. I've got a chapter on 25 of Om's personal favourites amongst the 250 films he's done, in his own voice. He's considered one of the greatest living actors so there's a chapter on acting tips. There are bits of Om's personal life, but he isn't a chocolate boy hero, so why should we be so keen about his love life? He's a serious actor and I don't think the biography will pull down his dignity.
I don't think that the fact that Om had affairs or was de-flowered at 14 will make the biography salacious.
These chapters should be read in context and his work far surpasses his personal life.
Apparently, your son has written a chapter.
Yes, it's a delightful one. Ishaan had written it when he was nine years old, accompanied by a drawing of Om. In it, he says, "My favourite films of my Baba's are Hera Pheri, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron and Malamaal Weekly.' I asked him, "Do you know Baba has done Aakrosh and Ardh Satya?" He replied, "So?" I realised there is a generation that knows the Om from those films and Chachi 420.
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How did Om react to Patrick Swayze's death?
We contacted Patrick for the book and knew of his illness. Patrick and Om were not the original choices for City Of Joy; Tom Cruise and Victor Banerjee were. During the shooting, Patrick came across as such a humble person and heavily into Buddhism, though it was just after his Dirty Dancing days. When we got in touch 15 years later, he gave such a vivid account of those times and how he acquainted himself then with Om's work by watching Ardh Satya, Tamas and other films. Om almost cried when he heard this.
Om was devastated when he heard of Patrick's death after all, they were like brothers and stayed together for three months. Patrick always said that Om reminded him of his father.
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As an outsider, how do you see the dynamics between Om, Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi, over the years?
They don't work together as much now. I met Om on City Of Joy, but he said before that, Shabana and he did films back to back for three years. So much so that he was seeing more of her than his girlfriends or Shabana of Javed (Akhtar)! Om respects Shabana for being a great actress and a terrific professional.
They don't share a deep friendship. They have kept a little distance between themselves. Om finds Shabana "unfathomable" and when I asked her, she said, "I still can't understand Om Puri." Om and Naseer love to pick on Shabana when they're together.
As for Naseer, I think their's is the most interesting relationship in the book. It's a love-hate one; they're soulmates and compatriots. They studied together in the National School of Drama (NID) and the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). Om was Naseer's junior in FTII and Naseer ragged him. Om had performed Hamlet in Hindi and Naseer and other seniors made him endlessly give the speech to them.
They have a healthy envy of each other. Om would say, "Wish I had done that role." In his next breath, he'd say, "Chalo, Naseer to kar raha hain."
Naseer helped Om land an advertisement Govind (Nihalani) made. They were playing two factory workers and there's this picture of them, bearded, gawky, awkward. Shabana saw it and said, "Tum dono ko, yeh shakal leke, himmat kaisi huyi to come to Mumbai and join films?" Naseer and Om laughed.
Shabana was dead right. Then Naseer replied, "Shabanaji, aap jab haste hain, aap dhakke kyun haste hain? (Why do you cover your mouth and laugh?)" Shabana had buck teeth then and Naseer was referring to her self-consciousness!u00a0u00a0u00a0
Unlikely Hero Om Puri by Nandita Puri will be launched next week. Published by Roli Books, Rs 395
When Om sent a fan letter
"Om always gives actors their due," says Nandita, "After he saw Nayakan, he sent Kamal Haasan a fan letter. They didn't know each other then. Kamal never replied and Om was cut up.
When they started working years later on Chachi 420 and became friends, Om told Kamal one day, "Kamalji, I sent you a fan letter after Nayakan, I wonder if you received it." Kamal smiled and said, "I got that letter, but I couldn't reply. I didn't know how to reply to someone like you!"u00a0
Smita Patil toasts
"Smita was already a star when I first worked with her but her warmth made me feel at ease. She was a very fine human being, a genuinely friendly person. Her personality reflected on the screen as well and unlike a number of others, she was never crafty. As an actress she was instinctive, just like her bohemian, bindaas self. We shared an easy on-screen relation.
"I used to visit her at her home in Tardeo and I remember she used to serve me tea and buttered toasts. The toasts, however, were unique and delicious. Once curiosity got the better of me and I asked her how she made them. 'Simple. Just butter the bread and put it in the toaster. That's all.' 'Smita Patil toasts' are made in my house to this day."
(Pics and excerpt from Unlikely Hero Om Puri, by Nandita Puri)
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