If there's one Indian film actor whose life has already acquired mythical proportions, largely out of romantic imagination fuelled by lack of information, it's Nawazuddin Siddiqui. That ignorance gap will finally be plugged: Siddiqui is writing a memoir.

Being co-written by Rituparna Chatterjee, the book is itself proving to be an open-ended learning experience at the moment, as the actor and the writer relive his life, pulling out memories and desires. The man who grew up in Uttar Pradesh and became one of Bollywood's biggest stars despite not playing the conventional hero's role will reveal, among other things, a great deal of his childhood in the story.

The as yet untitled book – it's unlikely to be called Nawaznama – will be published by Penguin Random House, which clearly sees great commercial potential in it. Possibly for the first time, PRH organised an event to talk about a book which it has only just signed up, and will not be published anytime soon. Bollywood has served publishers well only sometimes, and not every star biography or autobiography has been an automatic hit.

To see what a great writer can do with the world of Hindi films, try Saadat Hasan Manto's Stars from Another Sky.