Mumbai: Chetan Bhagat, bestseller author and reality show judge, in a tweet Tuesday brought to light how Vidhu Vinod Chopra, producer of 3 Idiots, Munnabhai MBBS, had incessantly bullied him which almost drove him to suicide during the time of film’s release way back in 2009.
Sushant's last film releases this week. I want to tell the snob and elitist critics right now, write sensibly. Don't act oversmart. 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.
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) July 21, 2020
The film was based on Bhagat’s book, Five Point Someone. Bhagat started off by asking the media to be “fair and sensible” to Sushant Singh Rajput’s swansong, Dil Bechara, set to premiere on Disney+Hotstar Friday, July 24.
Ma'am, when your husband publicly bullied me, shamelessly collected all the 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://t.co/CeVDT2oq47
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) July 21, 2020
Venting out his anger, Chetan Bhagat wrote, “Sushant’s last film releases this week. I want to tell the snob and elitist critics right now, write sensibly. Don’t act oversmart. 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
When film critic Anupama Chopra, wife of producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra countered, and retweeting Bhagat’s post, wrote, “Each time you think the discourse can’t get lower, it does (sic),” the conversation soon turned towards 3 Idiots and the story credit controversy that had erupted as a result of it back in 2009.
Chetan Bhagat responded to Chopra and alleged how her husband Vidhu Vinod Chopra “publicly bullied” him and drove him “close to suicide” by not unfairly taking the credit away from him.
“Ma’am, when your husband publicly bullied me, shamelessly collected all the best story awards, tried denying me credit for my story and drove me close to suicide, and you just watched, where was your discourse? (sic),” read Chetan’s tweet.
Raj Kumar Hirani’s take
Rajkumar Hirani, director of 3 Idiots, however, maintained that Bhagat was given due credit as agreed upon in the contract. “According to the contract, it clearly says that Chetan will be given credit in the rolling credit, which comes at the end of the film. He is lying when he says that his name comes after the junior artists, his name is after the main artists of the movie. See the movie to believe me,” Hirani had said when the matter had become controversial.
PNN/Agencies
