While it's not uncommon for cricketing nations to field their A and B teams according to the profile of the tournament, who could imagine it would one day inspire thespian Om Puri to field different wives depending on the country he visits? Not so long ago, Om had been facing arrest for physically assaulting his wife, Nandita, but he got a breather after he was granted bail and allowed him to leave the country for an international film assignment. When he invited Nandita and his son, Ishaan, to join him in the south of France, where he was filming for Steven Spielberg's The Hundred Foot Journey, many assumed that the couple would finally broker a lasting peace. While we hear he came across as the perfect family man in front of the crew and especially his co-star Helen Mirren, he was back with his first wife Seema Kapoor, barely hours after his flight landed in Mumbai.
Earlier this month the veteran actor was in Pakistan, for another 'family outing' - only this time the wife, who checked in with him at one of Lahore's swanky 5-star hotels was Seema Kapoor. Seema, who even premiered her film Haat (which was controversially sanctioned by Om during his stint as NFDC chairperson) during her week-long stay in Lahore, made several public appearances with him. Om was a special guest on a popular TV show called, rather aptly in hindsight, Mazaak Raat. Sample one of the questions during the rapid-fire round:
"Who is a better singer - Seema bhabhi or Richa Sharma?" For the record, Om voted for Seema. Being the conservative society it is, we can only imagine how his generous Pakistani hosts will react when they eventually discover that the real 'bhabhiji' was actually in Mumbai all this while, blissfully unaware. Interestingly, Om made some impassioned pleas for relaxing the visa policy between the two countries to provide "comfort" to visitors. Given how difficult it can be sometimes be for Indians to cross the Wagah border, we just hope he didn't make the mistake of pulling a fast one on Pakistani visa officials as well about his relationship with Seema.
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