Although 3 Idiots team has all the reasons to celebrate as the movie has become such a great hit, author Chetan Bhagat does not seem to be the part of celebration. The famous author of the book five point someone on which this movie is based seems to be hurt by the fact that his name was neither in opening credit when the film starts nor in the closing credit roll. His name comes very late which seems to be a problem to Mr. Bhagat. He says “The key plot points, the characters, incidents, messages, story – it’s an adaptation.
He added, there are some changes which any adaptation has and it’s ironic that no story credit is given to me. And it’s strange that you do it to a book which is so popular because people are going to find out and people have found out and they have flooded my twitter page about it”.
Perturb by these allegations producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra even accused Chetan of being publicity hungry as the film has now become blockbuster hit. According to him everything was stipulated in the deal and if Chetan had some problems with it, he should have raised objections then, he was not compelled by anyone to sign on the agreement.
Bhagat says, “Some of the makers have accused me of being fame hungry. I think they don’t realize how popular I am. As a writer, I don’t think anyone had as much fame as I have. I write columns on many news papers and I have readers in the numbers close to 20 million. I don’t need any kind of stunts to gain publicity.”
Mr. Perfectionist Aamir Khan says, “I met Chetan when I was shooting here, and I told him I have not read your book. He said don’t bother, the script is different. This he told me some eight months back and if he is saying something else then that reflects on him. Not on Raju or Vidhu Vinod Chopra.”. On this Bhagat says that Aamir might have misunderstood what he said and he didn’t mean anything like Aamir is saying now.
Whatever is the underlying truth but Chopra seemed so much distressed that he even shouted on a journalist upon being cross-questioned on this matter which gives a notion that there might be something fishy. Bound by contract, Chetan Bhagat may not be able to take any legal action against team 3 Idiots but he will surely be reading the agreements more carefully from now on.
Chetan’s Twitter Controversy ::
Chetan Bhagat posted a tweet, “Almost anyone who is reading my pirated books can afford the original. It hurts me a lot personally. Just sharing. Piracy kills publishers, esp domestic literature. Gives incentive writers to move westwards. Don’t do it if you care for Indian creativity. At a broader level, a society that doesn’t respect intellectual property never excels at innovation. See what kind of India u want”.
flyyoufools commented: “Tying everything to India’s progress today, aren’t we?”
Bhagat tweeted, “Well it is tied to progress. Close ur eyes to it if u want to.”
Flyyoufools replied, “In a bad mood today, aren’t we? Let me guess: Royalty check came in?”
Bhagat got angry and tweeted, “Buddy, one more smart one and u r blocked. ok?”
Tweeter Jojo Philip came into action and tweeted “Don’t blame the consumer. If he/she gets the product at a fifth of its cost, they have every right to pick it up”.
Bhagat replied, “If i can access your bank account, i have the right to steal from it?”
Jojiphilip said, “Piracy happens only when there is huge gap between d market cost & buying it otherwise. Greedy publishers plz note. There is a nexus between cops, illegal printers & publishers who r responsible for piracy. Attack d system, not the consumer.”
Bhagat contradicted Jojiphilip, “nobody is greedy. if u cant afford it, dont buy it. do u steal cars if u cant afford them?”
Jojiphilip commented, “No, i don’t steal cars, but if someone was offering me one for Rs 1000, i wud buy it. Blame the guy who is offering me this. as a consumer i have done no wrong. I have paid the guy on the street corner my hard earned Rs 100 & i did not steal it from him.”
Bhagat completely lost his temper, “U have. ask a lawyer. And one more defense of illegal stuff and will block u. ok?”