Niharika Lal (BOMBAY TIMES; December 13, 2017)

Revealing details about his romantic life in his memoir, An Ordinary Life, without the permission of the women involved, got Nawazuddin Siddiqui a lot of flak. He was accused of “exploiting and disrespecting” women to sell his autobiography, and a Delhibased advocate even registered a complaint with the National Commission for Women (NCW) against him for “outraging the modesty” of Niharika Singh, his Miss Lovely co-star. Following this complaint, Nawazuddin had tweeted an apology, saying that he was withdrawing the book. The memoir had also mentioned his relationship with Sunita Rajwar, who had also sent a legal notice to the actor.

Speaking at a session of Jashn-e-Rekhta, a festival which celebrates the spirit of Urdu, in Delhi, the actor explained to the audience why he bared it all in his book, blaming it on his ‘inner Manto’. Nawaz, who is playing the role of Saadat Hasan Manto in a Nandita Das film, said, “Yeh sach maine nahin, mere andar ke Manto ne bulwaya tha. Mujhe Manto mein jo sabse achhi baat lagi, woh yeh thi ki unhone apni life mein jo sach dekha, wohi likha. Usi dauran ye cheez mere dimag pe itni chha gayi ki main itna zyada sach bolne laga ki bahut zyada controversy shuru ho gayi. Baad mein mujhe realise hua ki yaar yeh thoda zyada ho gaya. Thoda sambhal kar rehna padega ab.”

‘MY DIRECTOR ASKED ME TO ISSUE A PUBLIC APOLOGY’
In his apology tweet, Nawaz had written, “I m apologising 2 every1 who’s sentiments r hurt bcz of d chaos around my memoir #AnOrdinaryLife I hereby regret & decide 2 withdraw my book. (sic)” Explaining the reason behind the tweet, he said, “I wrote a book, which led to a lot of controversy. So my director said public apology de do. Toh maine apology de di. Darr toh hota hai sach bolne mein. Par main kabhikabhi sochta hoon,‘Yaar! Sach mein bhi yeh hone laga – thoda chhupa lo, thoda pretend kar lo, thoda bata do. Toh phir kya sach?’”

‘SOCH RAHA HOON SACH BOLOON YA PHIR SE PURANA NAWAZ BAN JAOON?’
After excerpts from his memoir were out, Nawaz was also accused of lying about the details of his relationships with the women mentioned in it. But the actor insisted at the session that he used to lie and pretend before he made Manto– that making a film on the playwright changed him as a person. He said, “Main pehle pretend karke bolta tha, jhooth bolta tha, par Manto ke baad mujhe lagne laga ki sach bolunga. Himmat usse bandhi. Par mere bahut saare doston ne gaali deni shuru kar di – ‘tu pagal hai?’. Toh mujhe laga, yaar, galat impression pad jayega. Mujhe realise hua honest rehna mehenga pad raha hai. Abhi main kashti ki majhdaar mein hoon, kisi nateeje par nahin pahuncha hoon ki main sach bolun ya main phir se wohi Nawaz ban jaoon.”