'The dues were paid in full'

Topics like movie piracy and a certain author claiming more credit for the film than what is his ‘due’, certainly provoke a strongly worded reaction from him.

When asked whether he would have his film 3 Idiots uploaded on You Tube so that people could legally download and watch it instead of going the pirated version route, Chopra said, “I had mentioned in passing a while ago that we would seriously consider it as an option. But now in retrospect, it does not look probable that we will be uploading it on to You Tube. However, if you do happen to see a movie pirate, please thrash him for me within an inch of his life. If your friend has a copy of a pirated version of the movie, beat him up too but not as severely as the movie pirate.” And he sounded like he meant it. “Money that goes into the pockets of movie pirates is used to fund terrorist-related activities in the country,” he added.

Next topic to send him into a tirade was the author of a book, the film is supposedly based on claiming undue credit. “When something becomes a commercial success, a lot of people want to jump on the bandwagon. I did acquire rights to the book and the dues were paid in full even before the movie was released. The script was written by Abhijat Joshi, Raj Hirani and myself and bears very little if any resemblance to the book.”

Speaking about the whole experience of filming in the City, he went on to say, “The campus at IIM Bangalore was one of the best locations that we worked in and the synergy we shared with the staff and students contributed immensely to the success of the film.” He added that he hoped that in some way, the film would contribute to awareness and the need to revamp the educational system as we know it.

“Learning should be a joyful creative experience and college life is a very important part of the developing process. ‘All is well’ — the catch phrase of the film has caught on quickly with audiences across the country. I’m delighted because it is such a positive and life-enhancing phrase,” he signed off.