A letter to Chetan Bhagat

Hello Chetan,

I empathize with you for whatever is happening right now. Just read your tweet that you won't be moving court of law. But I think you should, because according to the agreement between you and the producers dated Sep 1, 2005 it is very much clear that the latter is guilty of breach of contract.

Moreover, film-makers always credit the writer howsoever small his contribution might be. Take for example, Jeeves & Wooster - the screenplay is very much different from the storyline in the book but since most sequences in the drama are based on the book, Wodehouse deserves credit and he is duly given.

Another example is 'Sherlock Holmes' (film) which released last week, directed by Guy Ritchie. Even though, the script does not match with any one of Sir AC Doyle's stories (story credit is Lionel Wigram's), his name appears in the credits, because he is the one who created the characters, sparked the idea etc.

And who can forget Simon Beaufoy's speech at the Oscars.

I'm not the right person to suggest you any course of action, but I'd definitely like to advise you to move the court of law. This action of yours will not only win you back what you rightfully deserve but will also serve as a warning to future (Indian) film-makers not to mess with writers.

Do take care and God bless,

--
Your fan(atic),
Ratan
ratan@deadwoodedition.com


Originally published here. About the controversy.