Vidhu Chopra warns ‘4th Idiot’ makers of legal action
By IANSSunday, May 9, 2010
LUCKNOW - Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the producer of the super-hit film “3 Idiots” Sunday served notice for copyright violation on the makers of animation film “The 4th Idiot”.
The notice was served on the “The 4th Idiot” producer and director Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury while the 35-minute film - dealing with memory enhancement techniques - was being screened for students of the local City Montessori Schools here. Omi Vaidya, who made his debut in “3 Idiots”, was also present on the occasion.
Chowdhury said: “Chopra has taken exception not only to the alleged copying of the concept, but also to the voice-over rendered by Omi Vaidya, who uses the same name - Chatur - as in Chopra’s film.
According to the notice, the makers of the animation film “have used the name of our movie, its story (including scenario, screenplay, dialogues, etc) characters for publicizing and promoting the film”.
It asked them to “immediately cease and desist, from advertising, promoting and/or publicising your movie ‘The 4th Idiot’ and in any event using the name of our movie ‘3 Idiots’ its story (including scenario, screenplay, dialogues, etc) characters in any form/manner through any media/medium for any reason whatsoever”.
Chowdhury, who figures in the Guinness Book of Records for his success with memory enhancement, however, denied the charge. “I do not find anything in my film that would even remotely violate Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s copyright to his film,” he said.
He said that the message he conveyed in his film was contradictory to what Chopra seeks to convey through Aamir Khan in “3 Idiots”.
“My objective is to tell young children that they must let the mind guide them. This is where I differ from Chopra, whose film seeks to profess dominance of the heart over mind,” Chowdhury added.
