Sidhartha Mallya denies trying to ‘reclaim image’ via ‘PR stunt’ book, says if he wanted money, he could’ve gossiped

Sidhartha Mallya, who recently wrote a memoir about his mental health issues, has dismissed allegations that the book is a ‘PR stunt’ to reclaim his image. Sidhartha, the son of liquor baron Vijay Mallya, is an actor. 

In an interview, he said that he didn’t have an image to reclaim and that he would have made way more money had he written a tell-all about the glamorous life that he has lived. But he chose to write an honest account of his struggles with anxiety with the hope that his story resonates with others. 

He told Film Companion, “I don’t need to reclaim my image; I don’t live in India, I have nothing to gain. What image do I have to reclaim? Trust me, I could’ve made a hell of a lot more money if I wrote this book about what a star life I’ve lived, the Monaco yacht parties, the IPL, and all the glitz and all the glamour… You know it, and I know it there would have been a far bigger audience for me to go gossiping about the things I’ve seen in my life. It’s fact; no one can deny that.”

He added, “What do I have to gain about being this open, and this raw, and this honest about my life other than I want to help people? I’m not in India, I’m not in Bollywood, I don’t have anything to gain by changing my image.”

Sidhartha also spoke about being driven by ‘ego’ during his time in India, when he became the face of his father’s IPL team, the Royal Challengers Bangalore, and was a permanent fixture at Bollywood events. 

Also read: Sid Mallya acted childish: Ayesha Takia

His book is called If I’m Honest, and he said that he was inspired to write it after penning an Instagram post about going sober, and subsequently creating a video series called ConSIDer This.