“3 Idiots retains the soul of Five Point Someone” - Chetan Bhagat
Features
oi-Staff
Very
few
authors
have
managed
to
reach
out
to
such
a
wide
audience
as
Chetan
Bhagat.
The
writer
of
international
bestsellers
like
Five
Point
Someone,
One
Night
@
Call
Centre,
3
Mistakes
of
My
Life
and
2
States
have
been
widely
read
and
now
he
is
all
set
to
see
yet
another
of
his
book
being
made
into
a
film.
Chetan
Bhagat
speaks
to
us
and
talks
about
why
3
Idiots
is
a
special
film,
his
next
big
project
and
lots
more.
After
One
Night
@
the
Call
Centre,
yet
another
book
of
yours
Five
Point
Someone
is
all
set
to
be
seen
in
its
celluloid
version
(3
Idiots).
How
does
it
feel?
It
feels
great.
This
time
it's
a
far
bigger
film,
the
buzz
about
3
Idiots
is
enormous.
We
have
done
the
right
thing
by
putting
the
film
ahead
of
us.
It's
an
incredible
feeling
to
be
able
to
reach
out
to
so
many
people
through
the
medium
of
cinema.
The
screenplay
has
been
written
by
Ra
Kumar
Hirani
and
Abhijat
Joshi...Would
you
have
liked
to
be
a
part
of
the
screenplay
writing
process?
Initially
I
did
sit
down
with
Raju
and
Abhijat
while
they
were
deciding
to
make
a
film
based
on
'5
Point
Someone'.
I
even
went
to
IIT
with
Abhijat
a
couple
of
times.
But
it
was
just
not
possible
for
me
to
be
involved
at
every
stage
of
the
screenplay
writing
process
since
I
was
in
Hong
Kong
at
that
time,
working
full
time
and
busy
writing
other
books.
Moreover,
Abhijat
is
based
in
USA,
Raju
was
in
the
US
for
quite
a
while
working
on
the
screenplay
but
it
was
not
practical
for
me
to
do
that.
The
question
on
everyone's
mind
is
how
similar
the
film
is
to
the
book?
Raju
Hirani
says
that
the
film
is
just
10%
of
the
book....your
comments.
I
don't
think
Raju
must
have
said
something
like
that.
In
fact
I
just
met
him
a
few
days
ago
and
we
spoke
at
length
about
the
film
etc.
See...Five
Point
Someone
has
over
the
years
achieved
cult
status
and
has
its
own
loyal
fans.
I
am
sure
they
would
like
to
see
each
and
every
moment
of
the
book
on
the
big
screen
but
that
is
not
how
the
process
works.
Adapting
a
book
and
making
it
into
a
film
is
a
relatively
new
thing
in
India.
The
film
retains
the
soul
of
the
book.
3
Idiots
is
different
from
the
book
but
at
the
same
time
it
does
borrow
many
things
from
the
book.
The
core
theme
and
message
of
the
film
is
coming
from
the
book
itself.
And
that's
why
the
makers
have
officially
credited
the
film
as
'Based
on
a
novel
by
Chetan
Bhagat'
You
are
but
obviously
not
directly
involved
with
the
film
and
its
promotional
strategies...does
it
upset
you?
Not
at
all...at
the
end
of
the
day
I
want
the
film
to
be
a
good
film
and
I
am
happy
that
a
film
whose
base
is
generated
from
my
book
has
generated
so
much
response
and
is
the
talk
of
the
town.
Aamir
recently
was
on
an
innovative
promotional
spree
travelling
the
length
and
breadth
of
the
country...what
do
you
think
about
this
marketing
strategy?
When
you
have
Aamir
Khan,
I
don't
think
anybody
else
needs
to
be
involved
in
marketing
of
the
film.
Aamir
is
known
for
his
innovative
style
of
marketing.
He
will
never
directly
say,
'Please
come
and
watch
my
film' but
he
will
do
something
that
will
grab
your
attention
and
make
you
go
and
watch
the
film.
I
am
really
inspired
by
his
marketing.
In
fact
there
is
a
lesson
for
a
lot
of
Indian
marketing
companies
on
the
way
Aamir
does
the
marketing
of
his
films.
Moving
on
from
3
Idiots,
how
is
work
coming
along
on
the
film
based
on
your
book
3
Mistakes
of
My
Life
being
made
by
Excel
Entertainment?
Abhishek
Kapoor
(the
director)
is
very
conscious
of
the
comparisons
that
will
come
between
the
book
and
the
film
and
hence
we
(Abhijit,
Pubali
Chaudhari
and
I)
are
taking
great
care
in
writing
the
screenplay
of
the
film.
In
fact
even
today
as
we
speak,
I
am
working
on
the
screenplay
of
the
film
based
on
3
Mistakes
Of
My
life.
We
are
aware
that
after
Rock
On
and
3
Idiots,
there
will
be
a
lot
of
expectations
from
people
and
hence
we
are
working
very
hard
on
getting
the
screenplay
right.
I
think
we
should
be
able
to
finalise
it
soon
and
begin
casting
in
a
month
or
so.
Your
most
recent
novel
2
States
was
launched
a
couple
of
months
ago...how
has
been
the
response
so
far?
2
States
has
had
a
fantastic
response...
easily
the
best
of
all
the
4
books,
that's
because
it's
a
very
universal
love
story
with
a
good
dose
of
humour.
It's
a
very
good
book
for
a
lot
of
people
to
relate
and
enjoy.
It
also
carries
a
nice
message.
Especially
in
the
South,
the
book
has
done
extraordinarily
well.
I
think
I
have
been
able
to
meet
my
fans
expectations
which
is
the
ultimate
dream
for
any
writer.
That
book
would
make
for
an
interesting
Bollywood
potboiler...any
plans
to
adapt
that
book
into
a
film
too?
There
have
been
many
offers
but
I
know
that
my
fans
would
like
me
to
be
involved
with
only
A-grade
Bollywood.
I
don't
want
to
sell
the
rights
to
any
filmmaker
just
for
the
heck
of
it.
It
should
go
into
the
right
hands
so
that
it
emerges
as
one
of
the
best
films
of
the
year
What
else
are
you
busy
with
these
days
apart
from
tweeting....the
buzz
is
that
you
are
scripting
a
film?
Twitter
is
a
great
way
to
stay
connected
with
my
fans.
Yes...I
do
want
to
script
a
romantic
comedy.
Abhishek
Kapoor
has
taught
me
a
lot
about
screenplay
writing.
The
best
part
about
working
with
Abhishek
is
that
he
has
shown
me
how
the
screenplay
language
works
and
also
how
to
use
restraint.
Rock
On
was
such
a
film
that
expressed
so
much
more
in
spite
of
being
subtle.
My
books
tend
to
be
quite
filmy
sometimes
(laughs).
It's
ironical
that
a
filmmaker
is
telling
me
to
be
less
filmy
but
I
am
forever
indebted
to
Abhishek
for
teaching
me
these
things
about
screenplay
writing.
Now
I
am
hoping
that
I
can
do
a
better
job.