One of my good friends, Mr R. Sridhar runs a creativity workshop company called IdeaZrs. Mr Sridhar used to head O&M India earlier, one of India’s top advertising agencies. After a fantastic career there, he set up this firm that tries to unravel creativity and the human mind. As part of that, he took a probing interview with me, asking questions I have never been asked before, and I had to spend a lot of time thinking answers to.
That interview is now available online, and the link is here.
I hope you enjoy it. Apart from the answers, I think the questions may also be inspiration to aspiring journalists who conduct regular interviews.
Love,
Chetan
hi sir, m your nw fan only befor som weeks ago i read ur book “five point someone” n i just lovd it.u created a habbit of reading in me. i have also read two states n i jus movd wid it.there is a humble request can u jus pls mail me ur wedding pic wid ur wife plssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
my id is v.pooja92@yahoo.com. plssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
Acting is no rocket science & aamir is is no match to your wit and creativity. (you are no god either!)
In india, people use to worship film stars….and if they showed signs of slight sense they would blindly follow him …but not in this free media age.I wish some day ..film stars will be paid and treated as one would treat any another professional …say lawyer or office clerk.
…but for that we have to make cinema truly competitive ..(.movies like 2012 and avatar had huge success )
make film making less expensive.
more and more drama & acting in school curriculum as option for wannabes.
We are seeing the birth of a new God, this is how Gods were born in the minds of foolish people in the past.
It was really a great Interview…. Great work done Dude
Hi Chetan,
I watched “3 idiots” because I liked your book. I wonder why someone would want to hide that fact since that would actually pull more people to the theaters.
Btw, I liked your latest book 2 states as well.
-Sahana
wow chetan u rock.. your answers were so perfect..fantastic…enjoyed reading it.
lotsa love n wishes
Dr Vedushi
Hey Chetan
I have posted a comment here yesterday and now I see it being removed/ not reflecting. Any reason in particular?
Ekta
Sad that you have removed my comments from your posts even though they were on your side.
I am highly disappointed with this treatment!
Ekta Kapoor…….Television drama queen………….
Chetan Bhagat………..Drama King of the Year 2009!!!!!!!!!
Hay Chetan
Very very nice interview.I find your vision, contemporary and people like you is good for this country,my country. Keep up the good work. Some day ours will be the best country in the world ,Well it doesnt matter in comparison. With the biggest population. hope ours become a peaceful and strong country
Oh! A ceratin Mr. writer manipulate comments too!
What was that comment that you deleted Mr. Bhagat?
a succesful book is not enough to make a movie like 3I, your thoughts are Rubbish..get a LIFE
hi Chetan Sir,
The interview was really a riveting one. As for me ,I hate reading novels but I love reading business related stuffs,biographies and autobiographies for they are thought-provoking and inspirational.
So,when one of my friends recommended me to read “Five Point some One”,I was quite…lets say not interested.But when I began reading it,my whole perception changed and from that day I became a real fan of your literary works.Sir, you are really a literary genious.
Except, for “One Night at Call centre”,I have read all your books.
The good thing about your literary works is that a reader can easily relate to the the characters potrayed.I refuse to call your works as mere “Fiction” for they are very much related to real life incidents.So what next?? I am eagerly waiting for your next book.
I have a suggestion infact a request please do write a book on challenges faced by people working in IT sectors.For I am from that background too.It will be bound to attract a lot of attention.
Thanks sir, keep going and keep writing…ALL the best and Happy New Year
I fully support Chetan Bhagat,against the Bollywood Gang !
It seems to e a real jungle out there.
Difficult for real creative people to survive.
Aamir Khan seems to be making a habit of stealing other people’s hard work–just on the super ego of him being a Super star, first Amol Gupte in Taare Zameen Par,and now FPS. Shame on him. Why doesnt he just stick to acting.
Really disappointed in him.
IF YOY ARE FREE READ MY BLOG AT
hardiik.blogspot.com
U rock!!!!!!!!!The interview suggests why u are the only person in the literally world who is increasing his fan base day by day….and the whole interview does not talk about the 3 IDIOTS controversy and the way u took the plot (The old man and the young receptionist )that shows u are the original creator of 3 IDIOTS i bet a million that no BOLLYWOOD guy could have thougth as u did
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neHsWIaSVPw
can you please respond to this ?
THIS AS WELL;
http://www.vinodchopra.com/
aren’t like agreements to be honoured?
Just wanted to share this article from Tehelka
No Point Someone
Make no soppy mistake. Chetan Bhagat is no creative underdog, says RISHI MAJUMDER
THERE IS A distinction between legal fact and legal fiction. The agreement entered into between “Vinod Chopra Films Pvt Ltd” and “Mr Chetan Bhagat” on the “1st day of September, 2005” is legal fact. Bhagat has not rescinded the agreement. He has acknowledged the receipt of “Rs 90,000 after TDS deduction” on “21st November 2009” and “Rs 9,00,000 after TDS deduction” on “16th December, 2009” as full consideration for rights he granted to Vinod Chopra Films Pvt Ltd in this agreement. These are legal facts too.
The same agreement obligates Vinod Chopra Films Pvt Ltd to “accord credit to the Author (Bhagat) in the rolling credits of any audio visual image software produced in terms of the exercise and execution of the Rights herein granted” in the following words: “Based On The Novel Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat”. Vinod Chopra Films Pvt Ltd has fulfilled this obligation, and this is where legal fiction begins. What happened between Chetan Bhagat and Rajkumar Hirani, the director of 3 Idiots, whether Bhagat read the script and watched the film, how much his mother cried, and how disappointed his fans are on having missed the credit accorded to him, are legally irrelevant details, spun around the legally relevant ones.
And Bhagat is the master of selling fiction, via two devices – celebrity and the Internet. The celebrity, of Bhagat and those associated with 3 Idiots, has led to the aforementioned legally irrelevant details being discussed on every possible media – newspapers, television and the world wide web. The Internet, on the other hand, has provided Bhagat the lovely opportunity of initiative. He has blogged and tweeted out the same details, confusing those he can’t convince, without being questioned on the details by the media.
A star controversy, engineered to publicise a film, is commonplace Bollywood formula. Bhagat has turned this formula on its head. He has engineered a controversy around a film to publicise himself. Evidence of how effective his ploy is lies in the fact that book sales for Five Point Someone have jumped by 15 to 20 percent since the film’s release.
But maybe stealing spotlight, and sales, is all one can do with a producer who promises a writer a lakh of rupees for a film that is expected to make over a hundred crores, and filmmakers who make statements suggesting a film is “only two to five percent inspired” by a book it is declaredly based on. If Bhagat has been Bollywoodised, then perhaps Bollywood is to blame.
BUT WHAT stands out, amidst what is right and wrong, legal and illegal, is the pettiness on public display. A Bollywood producer who shouts at reporters during a press conference, a writer who goes on and on about the font size, placement and nature of credit he has been given in a film, and fans who follow a writer like a cult would – more concerned with his status in the film world than his quality of writing.
All of this has been caused by a book and a film — both of which claim to stand for individuals being recognised for themselves and not by the results they wrestle in the rat race, the credits they get or give away. It has been caused by five point no ones, refusing to practice what they preach.
From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 7, Issue 02, Dated January 16, 2010