Nawazuddin Siddiqui withdraws book after ex-girlfriends take offence

It came as a shock when Nawazuddin Siddiqui decided to open up about his private life in his book titled An Ordinary Life: A Memoir.

Siddiqui had revealed some explicit details of his extramarital affairs with his Miss Lovely (2012) co-star Niharika Singh and unheralded actress Sunita Rajwar.

Stung by their criticism, he has now issued an apology and decided to withdraw the book. The Mom (2017) actor confirmed this on Twitter.

Siddiqui was forced to take this step after some explicit passages about his relationships with Singh and Rajwar evoked sharp criticism from both. The actresses said Siddiqui was fabricating stories to sell his book.

“Nawaz and I had a brief relationship during the making of Miss Lovely that lasted less than a few months in 2009," Singh told BollywoodLife.com website. "So today when he paints me as a woman in fur enticing him into her bedroom with candles, or desperately calling him and mailing other women on his behalf, I can only laugh."

Singh said Siddiqui was just trying to sell his book and appeared "willing to exploit and disrespect a woman" to that end. "He has chosen to fabricate stories and manipulate a fleeting relationship," she said. "None of what he has written has been with my knowledge, let alone my consent."

She said it was "this very aspect of Nawaz" that caused her to end her relationship with him in the first place. "I have always maintained that he is a brilliant actor. However, I had hoped these acting skills would have remain confined to the screen. Still, I wish him well."

In one passage in the book, Siddiqui described how he first visited Singh at her house and made 'passionate love' and started an affair that was to last one and a half years. Elsewhere, he blamed himself for their break-up, calling himself a selfish bastard with just one aim: 'go to her house, make out and leave'.

Siddiqui met Rajwar at the National School of Drama, Delhi. Rajwar posted a long message on Facebook in Hindi slamming Siddiqui.

Meanwhile, there may be more trouble in store for the actor after an advocate from Delhi filed a complaint with the National Commission for Women for allegedly outraging the modesty of Niharika Singh, the Mid-Day newspaper reported.

"I don't know Niharika Singh personally nor have I spoken to her," the advocate told the tabloid. "I have lodged a complaint with the NCW with a request to give direction for the registration of an FIR under sections 376 (rape), 497 (adultery) and 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman) of the IPC [Indian Penal Code]. He was evidently married when he was having an affair with Niharika and kept her in the dark about it.”