Vidhu Vinod Chopra “brought me close to suicide”, says writer Chetan Bhagat

New Delhi:

Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra “intimidated” him and “drove him close to suicide,” writer Chetan Bhagat said in a tweet to critic Anupama Chopra, who is married to Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Mr. Bhagat’s book Someone at five points was the basis of the 2009 blockbuster 3 idiots, starring actors Aamir Khan, R Madhavan and Sharman Joshi as the titular “idiots”. The film was produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra who Mr. Bhagat said at the time of its release had been unfair to him in writing the credits for the film. On Tuesday, he revisited this grievance in an exchange with Anupama Chopra who commented on a tweet by Mr. Bhagat asking movie critics not to “write garbage” on latest film from actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

In her tweet in response to Ms Chopra, Chetan Bhagat accused her of standing when her husband allegedly “drove (Chetan Bhagat) close to suicide”. Mr Bhagat tweeted: “Ma’am, when your husband publicly harassed me, shamelessly collected the best story prizes, tried to deny me credit for my story and drove me close to suicide, and you just watched, where was your speech? “

Ma’am, when your husband publicly intimidated me, shamelessly collected all the awards for the best story, tried to deny me credit for my story and drove me close to suicide, and you just watched, where was your speech? https://t.co/CeVDT2oq47

– Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) July 21, 2020

Chetan Bhagat’s original tweet is addressed to those he describes as “snobbish and elitist critics.” Dil Bechara, with Sushant Singh Rajput, out this Friday. “Write wisely. Don’t act overseas. Don’t write garbage. Be fair and reasonable. Don’t try your dirty tricks. You’ve ruined enough lives. Now stop. We’ll watch,” tweeted Mr. Bhagat, feed a story on social media that criticized critics Rajeev Masand and Anupama Chopra for not being kind to the actor’s films in their reviews. Mr Masand, also accused online of being the source of several ‘blind objects’ on the actor, spoke to police on Tuesday as part of the investigation into the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, allegedly by suicide.

“Anytime you think the talk can’t go down, it does,” Anupama Chopra commented on Chetan Bhagat’s tweet, eliciting the response.

Anytime you think the speech can’t turn down, it does! https://t.co/yhkBUd8VSQ

– Anupama Chopra (@anupamachopra) July 21, 2020

Trend, Chetan Bhagat wrote after his explosive post: “One tweet and the whole eco-system is shaken.”

3 idiots became instantly controversial when it was released in 2009. Vidhu Vinod Chopra and director Rajkumar Hirani had purchased the rights to Someone at five points and while the words “based on the novel by Chetan Bhagat” appear in the film, they are placed in the closing credits rather than in the opening titles where Mr. Hirani and writer Abhijat Joshi are credited for the story and script. Mr. Hirani and Mr. Joshi won Best Story at the Filmfare and IIFA Awards of the Year 3 idiots released. In one blog post in January 2010Mr. Bhagat said he was stepping away from the issue, “While we maintain our position on the issue, my fans and I want to move on, and we have.

3 idiots played Aamir Khan as the lead role of Rancho / Phunsukh, an inventive engineering student. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi played his two friends. Kareena Kapoor has been chosen as the love interest of Aamir and Boman Irani as the enemy of the students, the headmaster of the college they irreverently call Virus. Ali Fazal, Omi Vaidya, Javed Jaaferi and Parikshit Sahni also appeared in the film.

(If you need help, or know someone who does, please contact your nearest mental health specialist.) Hotline: AASRA: 91-22-27546669 (24 hours) Sneha Foundation: 91- 44-24640050 (24 hours) Vandrevala Foundation for Mental Health: 1860-2662-345 and 1800-2333-330 (24 hours) iCall: 022-25521111 (available Monday to Saturday: 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.) Liaison NGO: 18002094353 ( available from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.))