No matter what your opinion of Chetan Bhagat‘s books, you’ve got to admit he has quite the knack for writing stories that make good films. No one needs to be told what a massive hit 3 Idiots was, and now it looks like Kai Po Che (which is based on his The 3 Mistakes of My Life) is receiving good reviews from Berlinale, where it was recently screened. Not to mention, his 2 States has been picked up by Karan Johar and Sajid Nadiadwala, and will be starring two of the hottest newcomers in the industry today. Since he’s been making it so big in Bollywood recently, Anupama Chopra asks him on The Front Row this week whether it’s difficult to be dazzled by the fame and money that Bollywood’s known for. To answer the question, the writer quotes a piece of advice he was given by A. R. Rahman some time ago – here’s what he said!
Anupama Chopra: Is it hard to not be dazzled by the fame and the money that Bollywood represents?
Chetan Bhagat: I think I can say for myself, as an author or as a columnist, those are very satisfying things. The industry is designed to be a dream factory. It’s designed to lure you and if you are human and you are a sensitive artist, we will sometimes get lured. On paper you know you have to be better actors or better writers but sometimes we get caught up and it’s human. I think you have to balance it out. Sometimes you do it for the money, and sometimes you do it for the fame. A.R Rahman told me once, “Chetan, put one foot in Bollywood but keep one foot out.”
Watch “The Front Row with Anupama Chopra” tonight at 8:30 pm on Star World for the full conversation with director Abhishek Kapoor, actors Sushant Singh Rajput, Amit Sadh and Raj Kumar Yadav, and writer Chetan Bhagat on their new film Kai Po Che!. For more details on the show, log on to their website: www.thefrontrow.starworld.in. Follow them on Twitter @tfr2013 and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheFrontRowWithAnupamaChopra