I had been planning to write about this since a while back, but somehow I was so put off by the childishness of this entire incident that I never got myself to do it. In fact I the entire incident between CB and 3Idiots(the movie) left such a bad taste in my mouth. I just don’t understand the way some people behave and how they behave so irresponsibly. Everyone now knows the story between Chetan Bhagat and 3 Idiots. To summarize, CB wrote his first book called ‘Five Point Someone’ and it was a big hit in India and catapulted CB to recognition as an author. Before that book, he was just another guy living his own life. Then there was this Aamir Khan starrer 3 Idiots. This was an extremely hyped up movie and the claim to fame of this movie was that the movie was based on this runaway success book by CB. Whether the makers of the movie wanted to cash in on the fan following that this book had, or whether they wanted to catch the attention of the younger generation of India, or whatever their reasons might have been, one thing for sure was that this movie definitely caught the imagination of a majority of Indian movie buffs and people were just waiting eagerly for this movie to be released. However, due to the way it was advertised, almost everyone actually believed that the movie was based on the FPS book and I really doubt that people actually validated whether there was a similarity between the book and the movie or not. In fact I don’t think that even 50% of the movie goers even remember what was actually written in the book.
However, I have still not seen the movie due to certain reasons and I am waiting eagerly to get to see it. Judging by its box office performance, I am sure that it will run for a few more weeks if not months and I will definitely get a chance to catch it in the theaters. I have however read a lot of review from friends and people that I know who have actually seen the movie with an open mind and written about the similarities between the book and the movie and they have mentioned that there is a 90% difference between the book and the movie. In fact 90% is actually the most forgiving figure that I have come at. Some even mention that at the max, only one character is based on a character from the book and everything else is similar, but original and doesn’t follow the script in the book.
As I said, I have not seen the movie, but I have always had a question over the intentions of Mr. CB from the moment I heard him crib that his name was not given due credit. Either he is extremely childish, or he doesn’t know how to behave with the decency that a public figure should behave, or he is simply greedy and wants to cash in on the success of 3 Idiots. He came up with the stupidest reason that I have ever heard from anyone on why they were unhappy. He says that his mother was very unhappy that she couldn’t see his name in the credits of the movie. No, he didn’t complain that he felt the movie was a copy of his book, he didn’t complain that he was taken for a ride by the producers, but he actually complained that his mother didn’t see his name. I think its high time I go on a hunger strike because Sachin Tendulkar doesn’t thanks his fans and take my name everytime he scores a century.
Ever since the #chetanblocks incident, I have lost a lot of respect for CB and I think I might well have lost it all after this incident. After his first book, his next few books weren’t really that great and was just one long college essay and the amount of ego that had gotten into this head was just unbelievable. I feel that the moment he realized how much box office collection the movie was bringing in, he got greedy and did his best to sabotage the entire movie in controvery and try to squeeze a higher compensation out of the producers. Mr. Chopra has in fact put up the contract on his website and it clearly says that as per the contract, the producers can put up the credits for CB wherever and in whatever format they wish. On top of that the agreed compensation to Mr. Bhagat as per the contract was merely Rs. 1 lakh and there was an added bonus of Rs. 10 lakh which would be paid by the producers after the release of the movie at the complete discretion of the producers. In fact Mr. VVC had paid the entire Rs. 11 lakhs amount to Mr. Bhagat since the film was so successful. But obviously CB was a larger share of the pie, and much more than he was entitled to and decided to rake up a controversy.
In fact Mr. CB has been extremely annoying to say the least. I think he suffers from some sort of a complex, since every other tweet or comment of his make a reference to his books and asks people to buy and read his books. Yes, he is an author and wants his book to sell, but what he had been doing had become downright irritating. In fact I think the tables have now turned. Previously 3 Idiots was trying to market itself on the hype that CB had created with his books. Little did Mr. VVC realize that when he has Aamir Khan acting in his film, he doesn’t need any bigger marketing. Now, though, what is happening is that Mr. CB is using the hype and success of 3 Idiots to market his books. He has stirred up such a controversy that everyone who has watched 3 Idiots will associate him with the movie and many will go on to buy his book. In fact now Mr. VVC has all rights to claim royalty from CB for riding on his success.
30 Reasons why the movie is not based on the book
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Tagged: 3 idiots, aamir khan, book, chetan bhagat, contract, controvery, movie, vidhu vinod chopra