LATEST: Om Puri's wife defends sleaze

After the huge controversy created on the sensational details in actor Om Puri's biography Unusual Hero: Om Puri, the actor and his wife Nandita Puri (also the biographer of the book) joined in on CNN-IBN's show India At 9.

CNN-IBN: The reason why many people are raising an eyebrow is because though your biographer is your wife, some of those excerpts people say are an intrusion of marital privacy. Why did you choose your wife to be your biographer?

Om Puri: There is absolutely no intrusion, she hasn't written anything in the book which would embarrass me or which is awkward. I wanted it to be absolutely honest. If you are writing your biography then you should be honest, not that talk about only goody-goody things. I want to talk about my weaknesses, my strengths, my high points, my achievements... everything. And as far as choosing Nandita for the book goes, Nandita has been a journalist for the past 20 years. She has written a book of short stories, the ninth edition is going to come out. It is being translated into German, Danish and she has written two film scripts and she was for eight years continuously writing a column for Midday and she is also working on a novel.

CNN-IBN: Okay Nandita, there's much controversy around the book you wrote. In a sense you are wife and journalist, both at once. On the one hand as the wife you are privy to a lot of secrets. Where did you draw the line on what to reveal and what not to?

Nandita Puri: First thing is that I am a trained journalist and have been a journalist for the past twenty years. I have been profiling people. Yes, it is difficult to you know when you are writing about a family member, especially your spouse. So that is the reason why it took me so long when I had signed the contract in 2002. I started writing in 2007 because I needed a certain amount of detachment and it took me so many years to have certain level of objectivity and professionalism. I have done it with lot of professionalism and objectivity with certain amount of detachment.

CNN-IBN: Mr Om Puri, does it bother you to bare out your life in this way, considering that you have a young son would also be reading it and he's still adolescent? How did you react as a father?

Om Puri: When it appeared in the newspaper and the channel started talking about it, then I felt really bad because my son called me upand he was crying and howling. He said Baba, why did you do this etc. I said - Beta it was a mistake on my part and I apologise for it and that I am sorry for it. I was very, very angry because something out of context was said, because the book is not about this one relationship, that relationship is the part of the book. And he (the son) is a very bright boy and very understanding boy and I could pacify him.