Nawazuddin Siddiqui says ex-girlfriend mentioned in memoirs not Sunita Rajwar, files counter claim

Sunita Rajwar had sent a legal notice to Nawazuddin Siddiqui, demanding an unconditional apology for being mentioned in his memoirs, An Ordinary Life. Now, Nawaz has sent a counter notice.

A month after Sunita Rajwar filed a defamation suit for Rs 2 crore against Nawazuddin Siddiqui after he divulged the details of their alleged romantic relationship and breakup in his biography, the actor has sent her a counter notice. A Mumbai Mirror report claimed Tuesday that Siddiqui has sent a notice to Rajwar, claiming the girlfriend he mentioned in An Ordinary Life is some other Sunita and not her.

Objecting to what Nawazuddin wrote in his book, Sunita had explained the ‘real reason’ behind their break-up in a long Facebook post and later sought Rs 2 crore as compensation for her defamation. Nawaz had written that the break-up happened as she may have “wanted to date someone successful, not a struggling, desperate actor who was out of work”. The actor had said that he decided not to emotionally invest in a relationship after this experience.

An Asian Age report claimed Rajwar sent a legal notice to Siddiqui saying, “Our client is an accomplished artist, an actress, a happily married lady. Our client, with her sheer hard work and dedication, years of struggle since 1997, has earned reputation, goodwill, and her name is associated with reputed personalities, production houses across audio visual media.”

Nawazuddin withdrew the memoir after it triggered Sunita and his former girlfriend and Miss Lovely co-star Niharika Singh raising objections to their portrayal in the book. “I m apologising 2 every1 who’s sentiments r hurt bcz of d chaos around my memoir #AnOrdinaryLife. I hereby regret & decide 2 withdraw my book,” he had tweeted at that time.

The Mumbai Mirror report further said Nawaz also stated that Sunita’s notice was a mere publicity stunt as he wasn’t talking about her.

I m apologising 2 every1 who's sentiments r hurt bcz of d chaos around my memoir #AnOrdinaryLife
I hereby regret & decide 2 withdraw my book

— Nawazuddin Siddiqui (@Nawazuddin_S) October 30, 2017

However, responding to the counter notice, Rajwar told the tabloid, “He is lying that I am not the same Sunita. He himself has given all the evidence in his memoir that says I am the one he is talking about. First, he wrote my name in the book along with National School of Drama, although without surname, but there was no other Sunita in NSD during our batch. Then he referred to that girl as ‘Pahadi Girl’, again there was no other girl from the hills, other than me. Then he also mentioned that the Sunita in his book was a roommate of famous television actress Achint Kaur, because of whose influence she might have left him, so it’s clear as I was sharing accommodation with Achint Kaur.”

Kaur, too, told the tabloid that the whole incident was “just horrible and unfair to Sunita”.

Hindustan Times could not independently verify the reports.