Recently, when I wrote Darlingji, the joint biography of Nargis and Sunil Dutt, I was fortunate to receive the complete support of the family and friends of the Dutts. No conditions were placed for using the material they had shared with me. This only showed the maturity of Priya and Namrata Dutt. They were aware that there would be a difference between the book they would write on their parents — Mr and Mrs Dutt — and the one I would, but they did not lay down the line.

It’s another thing that some people felt overwhelmed because two books — although very different — on Nargis and Sunil were published at the same time. But we are starved of biographies and it is my hope that there will be many more on them. In fact, as a country, we need to have more books about the people who have inspired either admiration or outrage in us. As their lives come into view, we begin to understand them better. Warts and all.

The writer’s book, ‘Darlingji’, was published recently

kishwardesai@hotmail.com