The critically acclaimed 2009 movie, 3 Idiots had won many hearts and continues to do so through its emotionally and mindfully driven story. However, did you know that the dispute over the story’s credibility between its producer and original writer is still going strong?
In a recent twitter incident, writer Chetan Bhagat has accused producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra of “bullying” him to the extent that it “drove him close to suicide.”
The chain of events started when critic Anupama Chopra, wife of Vidhu Vinod Chopra who produced 3 Idiots, replied to Mr. Bhagat’s tweet where he slammed movie critics and told them not to “write rubbish” and “ruin lives”, hinting about Sushant Singh Rajput’s upcoming film, Dil Bechara which is going to be released on OTT.
“Sushant’s last film releases this week. I want to tell the snob and elitist critics right now, write sensibly. Don’t act over smart. Don’t write rubbish. Be fair and sensible. Don’t try your dirty tricks. You have ruined enough lives. Now stop. We’ll be watching,” read his tweet aimed at whom he called “snob and elitist critics”.
https://twitter.com/chetan_bhagat/status/1285430225237471232
The lady, responding to the tweet, said, “Each time you think the discourse can’t get lower, it does.”
https://twitter.com/anupamachopra/status/1285518602779496448
Mr. Bhagat took the opportunity to revisit the times when her husband emotionally drained him during the release of the movie 3 Idiots, accusing her of standing with her husband when he did wrong to him and his work.
He tweeted, “Ma’am, when your husband publicly bullied me, shamelessly collected best story awards, tried denying me credit for my story and drove me close to suicide, and you just watched, where was your discourse?”
https://twitter.com/chetan_bhagat/status/1285521001082585088
The blockbuster 3 Idiots was based on Chetan Bhagat’s book, Five Point Someone, and starred actors Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi in the leading roles. Mr. Chetan accused Mr. Chopra of denying him his credit for the work and even collecting all the ‘best writer’ awards at shows.
His earlier tweets were shot at critics like Rajeev Masand and Anupama Chopra who have been blamed for consistently speaking ill about the late actor’s movies and reflecting the same through their reviews.
Mr Masand, also accused online of having been behind several ‘blind items’ on the actor, went through an interrogation with the police, as part of the case of Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, allegedly by suicide. In one of his reviews, he called the late actor a “skirt-chaser”.
Some users took the side of Anupama Chopra, debating that she had no part to play in her husband’s deeds, to which Chetan Bhagat wrote, “One tweet and the entire eco-system gets rattled.” He also termed those supporting Ms. Chopra as “elitist snobs.”
Director Rajkumar Hirani and producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra had bought the rights of Mr. Bhagat’s book, Five Point Someone and made the Aamir Khan starrer ‘3 Idiots’ based on it where the actor played the role of the protagonist, ‘Phunsukh Wangdu’ or more popularly known as ‘Rancho’.
While the credits to the writer had to be given in the opening titles, the words “based on the novel by Chetan Bhagat” formed the closing titles for the movie. Moreover, writer Abhijat Joshi and Mr. Hirani were named in the opening titles below the “story and screenplay” mentions. The director and producer duo even went ahead to collect the Best Story award at the IIFA and Filmfare ceremonies in 2009 when the movie released and gained fandom overnight, instead of letting Chetan Bhagat take it.
In a blog post in January 2010, Mr. Bhagat said he was moving on from the matter: “While we maintain our stance on the issue, I and my fans want to move on, and we have.”
While 3 Idiots did a massive business across the globe, the other adaptation of his book, “Half Girlfriend” which had the same movie title as well, did not do well at the box-office. Its rights were bought even before the book got released.
