Vinod Chopra hits back at Farah Khan, Sajid, Anupam Kher
Features
oi-Staff
By Super Admin
By:
Faridoon
Shahryar,
IndiaFM
Thursday,
September
27,
2007
“What
are
the
credentials
of
these
people...what
is
their
understanding
of
cinema...where
does
their
allegiance
lie," said
Vidhu
Vinod
Chopra
when
asked
to
react
to
the
comments
of
a
few
filmmakers
like
Farah
Khan,
Sajid
Khan
and
Anupam
Kher
who
didn"t
approve
of
Eklavya
being
chosen
as
the
official
entry
for
Oscars
this
year.
“Last
year
Lage
Raho
didn"t
go,
did
I,
Raju
or
anybody
from
my
office
say
why
Munnabhai
didn"t
go,
it
was
a
better
film.
Before
that
Parineeta
didn"t
go,
Paheli
went.
Did
I
say
that
Shah
Rukh
made
a
stupid
film.
My
films
didn"t
go
for
two
years,
I
didn"t
bother
anyone,
why
are
they
bothering
us
now,"
Chopra
said.
The
producer-director
compared
the
attitude
of
certain
sections
of
the
film
fraternity
akin
to
crab
mentality,
where
one
crab
pulls
down
the
other
one.
One
person
according
to
him
who
is
not
a
crab
is
Ronnie
Screwwala,
as
he
was
genuinely
happy
and
gave
all
the
sound
advice
as
to
how
best
to
push
the
film.
Chopra"s
office
has
also
been
in
touch
with
Aamir
Khan
for
all
his
experiences
during
the
promotion
of
Lagaan.
Before
the
real
battle
begins,
the
controversy
on
the
selection
of
Eklavya
over
Bhavna
Talwar"s
Dharm
refuses
to
die
down.
“The
young
filmmaker
whose
film
hasn"t
gone,
I
heard,
she
has
said
in
Mid
Day
that
Eklavya
was
a
boring
film.
I
can
tell
her,
I
saw
your
film,
and
I
thought
it
was
a
load
of
shit.
It"s
immature,
childish."
But
what
about
the
resistance
within
the
film
industry,
even
people
like
Anupam
Kher
(who"ve
worked
in
films
like
Parinda
and
1942
A
Love
Story)
have
said
that
Chak
De
India
would
have
been
a
better
choice?
“My
answer
is,
maybe
Anupam
has
worked
more
with
some
other
Chopra.
To
the
film
fraternity
that
is
opposing,
let
me
tell
them,
LA
Times
has
called
Eklavya
a
lost
film
of
David
Lean.
I
wonder
if
these
people
who
shoot
back
side
asses
of
women
know
who
David
Lean
is.
David
Lean
is
the
God
of
Cinema.
He
made
'Lawrence
of
Arabia."
When
I
heard
it,
I
had
tears
in
my
eyes.
New
York
Times
called
it
a
heart
of
classic.
These
people
need
to
be
educated
a
little
bit
about
cinema,"
Chopra
said.
Eklavya
had
won
good
reviews
when
it
was
released,
but
somehow
it
failed
to
match
the
Box
Office
glory
of
your
last
few
films
like
Lage
Raho
Munnabhai,
Parineeta
and
Munnabhai
MBBS?
“Parinda
was
not
a
huge
Box
Office
success.
You
know
there
are
filmmakers
for
whom
Box
Office
success
is
all
that
matters.
There
are
others,
which
I
believe
I
am,
who
are
making
films
that
they
believe
in.
If
it
succeeds
like
Lage
Raho,
we
are
very
happy.
But
if
doesn"t
like
Eklavya,
we
are
still
very
happy
because
we
made
a
film
that
I
believed
in.
Let
me
tell
you
what
I
read
in
The
Hindustan
Times.
The
reporter
said
that
the
film
cost
Rs.
20
crore.
It
is
wrong.
Then
it
said
it
ran
for
3
weeks.
Again
wrong.
Eklavya
ran
for
15
weeks.
Just
to
make
their
story,
they
have
misquoted
it."