What Nawazuddin did to the ladies was not in good taste: Asha Parekh on memoir row

Now that Nawazuddin Siddiqui has withdrawn his memoir An Ordinary Life from the market, veteran actress Asha Parekh, who has written her own memoirs, The Hit Girl, feels it’s too late for damage control.

“What Nawaz did to the ladies was not in good taste. He should have thought of the repercussions before plunging into the book. His co-writer should also have been careful. Perhaps Nawazuddin shared all the intimate details of his life with her. But she should have advised him on how to use his experiences in the book. This is why I got an experienced Bollywood writer Khalid Mohamed on board, as he would know where to draw the line, if I ever failed to draw that line myself,” says Asha, adding that it makes no sense to bring an outsider to write a Bollywood biography.

Asha Parekh

“Nawaz is too new to Bollywood to write this book. He needed to first spend some years in the film industry before writing about his experiences. He also needed to speak to the women whom he wrote about. You can’t just write your version of the truth in a relationship. Two people are involved and they both need to be aware of what will be put out in public,” says Asha, who revealed her own personal relationship with filmmaker Nasir Hussain in her memoir.

Defending her stance, she says, “That was done with the knowledge and consent of the people concerned. This is the problem of writing about one’s life. The lives of others also come into the picture. Nawaz should have waited for some more years and then gone back into his life. By hurting those whom you have been close to, you can’t claim to be honest. There is a very thin line dividing honesty and insensitivity in confessional writing.”