I recently watched the block buster flick 3 idiots. I can say, this is one of the over hyped movies which met my expectation. This is again an adaptation from one of Chetan Bhagat’s chicklits called Five Point Someone. This was his debut book and a best seller. Usually the ‘fiction to film’ stuff irritates. But, this one......Good work Mr. Hirani!!!
I read the book as soon as it was released, good, funny and light stuff. I really wanted to see the book on the reel. At last that did happen in a grand way.
As everyone knows, recently the movie and its creators were hit by a credit controversy. The so-called percentage controversy did a great job to boost the movie and book sale. 3 idiots interested the media for quite some time. It did get a wide reach than the promotion stunts. Easy PR ;)
Even though, the director said the movie is an adaptation (now they want to call it as initiation) of the FPS, I felt that only the thread was taken. Off course the main characters added and some eliminated. That’s the way it is for any adaptation. The hype was really high to promote the movie. Print, broadcast and online ads were flooding. I don’t think there was any need to publicize it so much coz movie goers always accept good movies whole heartedly. You would be thinking why I am talking about promotion which is a universal practice. That’s true, but the buzz is that, to diminish the Chetan effect, they publicized it in a larger level. This caught the media’s attention beforehand and when the controversy actually hit the roof it was a hot cake for our country’s fourth estate.
Mr. Bhagat penned in his website that "The setting, characters, plotline, dramatic twists and turns, one-liners, theme, message - almost all aspects that make up the story are from FPS. Yes, there are some changes, any adaptation requires that - but it is no way an original story. Leading movie critics have privately admitted to me that the film is 70% the book. Still, don't take my word for it - go read the book, watch the film." We tend to believe him when he comes up with the minute details. But when you read the creators’ point of view, you will nod for their arguments too. The spectators like us just take it as an instinct to watch movie/read book. What else can we do?;)Anyway, the media, creators and the author utilized the percentage controversy. But was he really trying to take away the credit? The media came up with all possible answers. I strongly feel that it was a publicity stunt. Nobody defamed but profited in a larger level. The movie hit the box office and the book is out of stock.:) All is well!!!
