Memoirs in moderation

Bollywood is no stranger to rumours of love affairs that give gossip mongers a field day. The latest would be Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s biography co-written by Rituparana Chatterjee titled An Ordinary Life. However, the book’s explosive details gave the country an insight into one of its finest actor’s extraordinary love life. The actor’s remarkable candour did not go down well with his exes who were shocked by his revelations that went to print without consent.  

While asking for consent should have been a given, this brings to the fore the political correctness that Indian writers aspire for especially when it comes to biographies. A hot trend among celebrities, the Indian memoirs are a tad lukewarm in candid confessions. Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s tale and stars like Rekha, Karan Johar, Naseerudin Shah and Rishi Kapoor’s biographies were among the most-awaited ones.

Internationally biographies of celebrities like Paul Gascoigne’s Gazza, Shirley Jones and Mackenzie Phillips revealed intimate details that were honest, and aptly, what one’s life story should be about. Some were in equal parts shocking as they were revealing.

But Nawazuddin’s story received immense backlash from his respective exes and he was forced to withdraw the book but it is clear that he meant to portray a tell-all tale.

The nature of his words created an uproar and the country was clearly not prepared for it.

Author Namita Sonthalia tell us about the purpose that biographies  fullfil and stories gaining deserved recognition. “These books are really helpful for a person who’s interested in the film era like how Rishi Kapoor describes the transition phase of cinema in his biography. When it comes to a tell-all tale, it’s completely a personal perspective and it’s good as far as it is true and about just one person. When it comes to more people being involved in a person’s life, it has to be a collaborative effort to know that they are okay with it. It has to be true and about the freedom to talk about your own life. I personally think biographies are overrated if they are not really needed.   I might be interested in a story only if I was inquisitive about the person, and there was something to learn from it. Nawazuddin’s story is definitely one that deserves recognition but if it was all about, it would have been a warm welcome. Tagging other people in the story takes away the focus from his success and creates a ontroversy,” she says.