Aamir is a very powerful man: Chetan Bhagat

Aamir Khan is a very powerful person but the truth has to prevail says author Chetan Bhagat asking people to compare for themselves his book Five Point Someone and the film 3 Idiotsu00a0Im just telling people to see the film and read my book I know Aamir is a very powerful person But finally the truth has to prevail no Im no great artist But there has to be fair play Bhagat saidDeclaring that the film is based on his bestseller Bhagat has objected to not being given prominence in the credits Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra director Rajkumar Hirani as well as Aamir Khan have accused him of lying and trying to gain media attentionIm being accused of trying to get mileage Ten lakh copies of the book have been sold The book has been read by one crore readers Wouldnt they know the truthThe makers of 3 Idiots are busy with their victory tours all over the country Sorry I spoilt their celebrations The truth had to be told he saidExcerpts from the interviewQ You must be very upset by the latest proceedingsA Youre a writer You should know how it feels to have credit taken away from you And its not something only Im saying The book is there The film is there Theyve tried to take away from my contribution My name is at the very end of the credit titles after the junior artists and still photographers From the time they started making the film theyve been stressing that their product is different Its like a systematic effort to underplay my contribution If you read the book and see the film youll see the similaritiesu00a0Q So would you say 3 Idiots is an adaptation of your novelA 3 Idiots is a total adaptation of my book Some things are direct lifts others indirect adaptationsQ Aamir thinks you are trying to take away credit from the films writer Abhijat JoshiA I heard his comments But then he says he hasnt read the book Theres no denying Abhijat has done the screenplay What Abhijat has done with my book can only be known if youve read it If Aamir is so concerned about Abhijat not getting the publicity he should let Abhijat talk I very much respect Aamir Hes the reason I thought the project would have a lot of integrity I know for a fact he was told not to read my book because they told him itd affect his understanding of his story I was told it was a different scriptQ How would Aamirs perception have been affected if he read the bookA I dont know Im on a firm footing with the facts See the film read the book and judge for yourself The whole plotstructure narrative even dialogues about matarpaneer and Maruti 800 cars are from my novel The novel was set in the 1990s Aaj Maruti 800 kaun bolega I mention 42 exams and 16 broken bones in my book They have kept the same numbers in the film Kareenas brother committing suicide on the railway tracks so many other things in the film its all there in my novelQ Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Aamir have accused you of trying to make mileage out of their movieA If I didnt take up the issue properly I wouldnt have been able to live with myself If someone else goes and collects the award for best story at the awards functions how will I feel Only once I met Aamir When I landed at Bangalore where they were shooting 3 Idiots they said Dont come weve too many visitors They prevented me from going on the setWhen the other film Hello based on my novel One Night At The Call Centre came did I say one word against the characterisations or treatment I was credited properly for that I havent been credited for 3 IdiotsQ Have you become embittered towards Bollywoodu00a0A You could make up any kind of contract But is there any contract that stops people from being petty My last novel Three Mistakes Of My Life is being directed by Abhishek Kapoor I am coscripting it Theres a lot of interest in adapting my latest novel 2 States The Story Of My Life I dont think there would be any problem with future projectWith 3 Idiots I know Im in the right Im just telling people to see the film and read my book I know Aamir is a very powerful person But finally the truth has to prevail no Im no great artist but there has to be fair play Im being accused of trying to get mileage Ten lakh copies of the book have been sold The book has been read by one crore readers Wouldnt they know the truthQ What do you intend to doA The makers of 3 Idiots are busy with their victory tours all over the country Theyre naturally being asked about the similarities between my book and the film Sorry I spoilt their celebrations The truth had to be told Ive been told by them Youre just a writer You dont realise how big we are