Who is the idiot here?
January 8th, 2010
Chetan Bhagat is a simple man. He follows his heart to the hilt. When he wrote Five Point Someone in 2004 he was appreciated. He felt good. The book even bagged two awards, Society Young Achiever’s Award in 2004 and The Publisher’s Recognition Award in 2005. He felt even better. And then Vidhu Vinod Chopra asked him for the rights of the book. He was ecstatic now. He had to say yes. Vidhu Vinod Chopra too was a good man after all. The guy was giving 10 Lakh bucks for the rights of the book too. And so Bhagat just signed where he was told to and went home happily. When Vidhu started shooting the film they called him to the sets. He obliged. He met Amir and Rajkumar Hirani, the director of the movie. These were the people who were going to make him immortal. His book will be the talk of the town. He was on top of the world. And then they released the movie and everything changed.
3 Idiots became the biggest ever hit from bollywood. And the damn movie was so different from his book. Not surprisingly no one was talking about him or his book. What was worse was that his name was not even included in the credits in the beginning. It was only after the movie ended that his name figured in the roll over credits. What the hell? He checked the contract which he had signed. To his horror he realized that it was all there in the contract. They could change, manipulate or distort the plot the way they wanted. It also said that his name would be in the roll over credits in the end. He had been fooled completely. But wait a minute. He couldn’t let things carry on the way they were. He had to do something. And he sure did as we all are well aware by now.
The sales of his book have since galloped like never before. What even the two awards for his book could not do was achieved by this controversy. It’s flying off the shelf now. In fact the producers of his book Rupa and Co have ordered a reprint. It was a small matter that Amir and Vidhu Vinod Chopra have called him a liar. They can take a cool walk as far as he was concerned. Fact remains that not only was plot of the movie his brainchild but also the sub plot of the controversy was his baby. And mind you, it’s because of this controversy and not because of the success of the movie that today Chetan Bhagat is a well known albeit a less respected writer. A smart man, I’d say. An alumunus of IIT Delhi and IIM Ahemdabad would sure be.
Unlike the main protagonist of the movie Rancho and Hari (in the book) you cannot really succeed in life without being cunning. You have to have a bit of everything. Calibre as well as cunningness. In a way you have to be like the character of Chatur in the movie who was shown as a meritorious and hardworking student who could not see someone else succeed at his cost. Chetan Bhagat is exactly like him. Like in the movie Chatur does everything possible to succeed and be recognized at the same time Chetan too has ensured that his name will always be associated with 3 Idiots for good or bad for all times to come courtesy this smart controversy created by him. Rest assured that his next book will be sold at a much higher price than the stupid ten lakhs that he got for this one.
Off course Chetan has since patched up with all these guys. He has even bought a house next to Amir’s to show that ALL IZ WELL between him and Amir. So who exactly are the idiots here? Not Chetan for sure. Well, the first idiots are the ones who have watched this movie. The second and bigger idiots are the ones who have bought the book after hearing of this controversy to find out the difference between the book and the film. But the third and the biggest idiot of them all is Vir Sanghvi who wrote a huge column It’s about behaving with grace, you idiots! in Hindustan Times in support of Chetan Bhagat explaining why Bhagat’s name should be in the beginning and not in the end without bothering to even read the contract that was signed between Bhagat and Chopra. Behaving with grace? What about common sense?
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January 8th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Sush, the base idea is that of Chetan Bhagat, modified and adapted for the film. Grace and good sense demands that he be given credit. Hence, to call the story of the movie as an Original Story is being economical with truth if not a complete travesty. Sensitivity of the writer to his creation must be respected. Our music directors are inspired by western compositions and they get away with it. The same with our film story writers. Chetan Bhagat has the gumption to stand up to the power of the film industry.
Try writing an original score. Its not easy. Lets respect talent.
The movie is good. The controversy should rest. Hopefully Chetan Bhagat and other good story writers are more conscious while selling their rights to others in future. Producers/Directors too should be fair and reasonable..
I do hope that the movie filters through to the youth of India and their parents. Children being forced fit to follow their parent's dreams is the biggest single concern facing us today. Who cares who makes money in the process.. Somebody has to...
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January 8th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
ha ha hahhh.... good one sush as usual... i always love chetans books.... hes a down to earth practical thinker and writer!!!
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January 9th, 2010 at 1:11 am
You hit the nail on the head! Yes, I too had the impression that Vir Singhvi is a big fool to write such a long column in support of Cheat-n-brag-art. But you cannot call Chetan so smart, because in the enthusiasm of getting his story made into a movie he even did not care to read the agreement properly. Rajkumar Hirani has in fact permanently damaged Chetan's reputation by putting online Chetan's previous interview and agreement in Youtube. The whole episode inspired this video.
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January 9th, 2010 at 5:46 am
This is a strange controversy in an industry that has no quams about coping stories, music and other material from other movie industries particularly Hollywood without paying for or acknowledging the copyrights.
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January 10th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Fact of the matter is not in just this one incident. If you go by the very recent controversies you will perhaps agree that there exists a potential hidden claimant for almost every good piece of work that comes out, be it in art, literature, drama, movie etc. It has sort of become a fab today, maybe for instant publicity, to lay claim to what would perhaps remotely coincide with your views but broadly different in perception of the other. And the controversy begins......well I suppose such matters are best left at that.
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January 13th, 2010 at 10:14 pm
you are right, Chetan Bhagat's new book will be a success his acts have brought him so much publicity
although i do believe that the director and producers should have acknolwdged his work in the titles.
may be something like story idea or concept
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January 22nd, 2010 at 8:09 pm
Dear Sush.
I think your views are more reactive , Yes I agree with you that Chetan Bhagat was not given enough room in the movie but 5 Point someone is merely a book devoid of any messages and just a time pass overhyped novel . The novel got the hype out of IIT tag .I believe the Movie 3 idiots might have shown few larger than life characters but we all need role models. Infact the whole Bhagat aamir feud looks to me just a publicity stunt to increase the sales of both the novel and the movie.
You might like to go through my complete views on the same and also on one of the other novels of Mr. Bhagat which are devoid of any quality and full of mistakes.
http://ankit-freedom.blogspot.com/search/label/Chetan%20Bhagat
Regards
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January 24th, 2010 at 6:25 am
[...] Who is the idiot here? « makeSplash.com by Sush Jaitly [...]
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June 9th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
rather a daring comment on hindustan times columnist. How u r so sure abt minute details of the contract ?
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