An upset Aamir Khan has spoken out against author Chetan Bhagat, on whose novel the star's latest blockbuster '3 Idiots' is based, accusing him of trying to take away the credit from the film's scriptwriter.
"He is trying to take away the credit from the film's writer Abhijat Joshi, which I am very upset about. It is an attempt on his part to try and take the credit away from the person who has actually worked on the script. It's very unfortunate. There should not be any confusion to anyone that Abhijat is our film's writer," Khan told reporters here last night.
Bhagat had earlier accused the film makers of "playing" with him and not giving him adequate credit in '3 Idiots' based on his bestseller 'Five Point Someone'.
The actor said the film makers were honest in their agreement with the novelist and had given him his due credit in the film.
"But in my opinion the credit should be given to Abhijat. For three years, this man has worked on the script. Nobody knows him, but Chetan is a big star," he added.
Recalling that Bhagat had once admitted to him that the film was very different from the book, Khan said, "Now the film has become successful so he is trying to get some publicity. It's very unfortunate".
"Abhijat has written the script and Raju Hirani worked on it. Raju and Abhijat took the idea from Chetan's book. The starting point is 'Five Point Someone', but after that the script has changed entirely," he said.
In his blog yesterday, Bhagat had written that he had been silently grappling with the issue for the past two years.
"I knew they had played with me, and that 'based on a novel by credit, which they were legally bound to give would be hushed away at the end with the clear intention of making sure people miss it," he said.
The novelist has alleged that, contrary to what the makers have said, much of the film is from his book.
"The setting, characters, plot, dramatic twists and turns, one-liners, theme, message almost all aspects that make the story are from FPS. Yes, there are some changes, any adaptation requires that but it is no way an original story," he claimed.
Produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, '3 Idiots' has created a box-office history by collecting Rs 175 crore just days after its release on the Christmas day, making it one of the biggest opening for a Hindi film this decade.
Now Hirani says chetan is lying
03/01/10
The ongoing 3 Idiots credit controversy turned into a full blown war on Saturday with director Rajkumar Hirani accusing author Chetan Bhagat of "unnecessary slandering in public". Hirani also maintained that 3 Idiots was not a copy of Bhagat's bestseller Five Point Someone and that the filmmakers have bought the rights of the book.
"We legally purchased the rights of the novel, with complete authority to alter the text to suit the screen. We have always said that if we had not read the book we wouldn't have made the film. But it must be remembered that the screenplay that has evolved from the book is very different from the book and has a life of its own," Hirani said.
Hirani also rubbished Bhagat's claims that he wasn't shown the final script. "I gave him a four-hour narration of the script and he even signed a non-disclosure agreement which all actors, technicians and people working on the film sign upon reading the script so that details of the script don't go out."
In a press meet in Mumbai, Hirani distributed copies of the legal contract and a non-disclosure agreement signed by Bhagat on September 1, 2005 and October 3, 2007, respectively. In the legal contract between Vinod Chopra Films and Bhagat, it is mentioned that 'It shall be obligatory on the part of the producer to accord credit to the author in the rolling credits... as under — Based on the novel Five Point Someone. "We've followed the legal contract and given him credit in the film's rolling credits. The agreement was signed in September 2005. If he (Bhagat) had any issue with credits or money given to him, why did he wait for more that four years to respond? Most importantly, why wait till one week post release," Hirani said.
Meanwhile, Bhagat still maintains that the filmmakers have snatched away his story credit. "How can they call it an original story and give story credit to Rajkumar Hirani and Abhijat Joshi right upfront and hide mine totally? It's an adaptation. The people who have done that have adapted my story, not written a new one. Maybe they can be co-credited for story, but how can they exclude me," he said.
While the writer feels "deeply hurt" with the attitude of the filmmakers he insists that he won't take them to court. "Let them win awards for my story. I am highlighting the issue so that it doesn't happen to other authors. I won't take them to court," he said.
The credit row surfaced after Bhagat posted on his blog that "70 per cent" of 3 Idiots is based on his book and therefore he should have got a more prominent credit. The issue escalated on Friday evening when producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra lost his cool at a press meet in Delhi where he told mediapersons to "just shut up" with the questions regarding the credit issue. A day later, a visibly chastened Chopra apologised for his behavior. "I saw myself on TV and saw how I was shouting 'shut up! shut up!' like an animal. That was complete nonsensical behaviour! After making such a good movie and after doing such a good work, I did such a shameless behaviour for which I am deeply sorry," Chopra said.
