It’s the sort of tell-all biography Indians are not used to: a rags-to-riches success story, with details of even sexapades thrown it. Om Puri’s biography
Unlikely Hero, written by his wife Nandita, describes a rocking affair the actor had, with his housemaid Lakshmi.
“The house
staff consisted of a mother and daughter duo from Andhra Pradesh, Amma and her daughter Lakshmi. Whenever Om was at home, Lakshmi made extra effort to cook special food for him and walked around the house coyly. She even flirted with him. Om did not fail to notice all this... thus their short-term physical relationship began,” read excerpts from the book launched last week. In a chapter, Nandita describes Lakshmi as having a “dark and voluptuous matronly appearance” which Om found “attractive.” The book goes on to reveal that Om even contemplated marrying Lakshmi because he felt “grateful towards her.”
Nandita writes about how Lakshmi soon got possessive and started questioning Om’s friendship with other women. When he decided to end their relationship, she attempted suicide by “climbing onto the terrace rail and announcing that she would jump seven storeys down. When Om pulled her back, she yelled hysterically, ‘Nahin, mujhe marne do! (No, let me die!).’” The affair ended soon after and Om has been quoted in the book saying, “Thank God I woke up quickly from my idealistic stupor and didn’t commit to Lakshmi. We had nothing, in common.” Reportedly, Om was upset with Nandita for revealing all this in the book, but later apologised to her.