Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan,who launched the controversial biography of Om Puri here,has lauded his contemporary's courage in revealing details about his personal life. The launch,where Puri narrated some of life's moments himself,was attended by a large number of people from the Hindi film fraternity. Describing the evening in his blog,the 67-year-old megastar wrote,"Facing a public audience can be a daunting task even in the most comfortable circumstances,but to his credit I must say his candidness became the most endearing moments of the evening." The book 'Om Puri: An Unlikely Hero' has been written by Puri's journalist wife Nandita and was in news over her revelations about Puri's relationship with various women. "Overwhelmed by the realities of his own very humbling early existence,Om Puri choked with emotion as he narrated those moments with the honesty that most of us would perhaps never acquire," Bachchan wrote about his 'Dev' co-star. Big B also joked about how he has become the most popular book launcher in Mumbai and has developed a skill to wrap things up quickly. "As the official 'book launcher' of the city I have now developed a knack of getting through these situations rather rapidly," he wrote. Bachchan's next book launch is a new elaborate form of his father Harivansh Rai Bachchan's 'Madhushala' at the late poet's 101 birth anniversary on November 28. Puri spoke candidly at the launch,saying that it was not the personal details put forward in the book but the accusations of resorting to "cheap publicity" which caused him embarrassment. He was referring to the chapters in the book which dealt with his early sexual experiences with a domestic help. The topic was taken up by the media when Nandita spoke about it in an interview with a magazine. "The entire country knew Om Puri had an affair with a working class woman. I got upset with her (Nandita). Some people asked me whether this (controversy) was a way to promote the book. I was embarrassed," he said. "I didn't realise that six lines would become the entire book," he added. The National Award winning author said that the issue was blown out of proportion just because the woman was his house-maid. "What is wrong if I have an affair with a working class woman? I also belong to the same class," he said. The actor also revealed he had made allegations of cruelty and adultery against ex-wife Seema Kapoor to get a divorce,on the advice of his lawyer. "I feel ashamed," he said,breaking down into tears.
