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.

... contd.