Rancho in '3 Idiots' is actually me: Vidhu Vinod
PTI, PANAJI | 24 November 2014 23:30 IST
Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra said that the character Rancho played by Aamir Khan in 3 Idiots was inspired from his life.
Rancho, or Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad, was an eternally optimistic genius in the film.
"The character of Rancho (Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad) in the movie is (based on) me. It is inspired from my life," Chopra said while interacting with the delegates in the NFDC's Film Bazaar, where he shared interesting anecdotes of his life.
Chopra is a product of Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India.
"I never attended classes in the film institute. I failed in the final examination. So, when I was nominated for Oscars, the institute called me as a guest and gave me my passing certificate as an honour," said the 62-year-old filmmaker, who also produced the Munnabhai series.
According to Chopra, his family wanted him to become a doctor, but he pursued his dream of filmmaking.
The Bollywood producer-director purposely wrote the medical entrance exam paper incomplete, so that he could fail in it. Chopra said it would have been difficult to convince his father about his desire to become a filmmaker.
"When I was nominated for Oscar, I confessed to my dad about the truth. I thought since I am nominated for the Oscars my father would say well done. But he looked at me and said 'you fooled me' and gave me a slap with love and affection," said the filmmaker, whose short film An Encounter with Faces nominated at the Oscars in 1979.
Similarly, after watching 3 Idiots, his daughter from previous marriage left media studies and followed her dream of becoming a dancer.
Chopra said he wants to make the 2009 blockbuster in Chinese, France and English as the film continues to change many lives.
Follow your heart. Life is short. Live your life and not of others. Do what is good for today without thinking the good of the future. Don’t know today or tomorrow is out last day. Why so much tension in making money, when we don’t know about the next minute of our life. There is sufficient food, money and other natural resources for a man to live in this world, if Greed of the Politicians are vanished and they work for the welfare of the people. So much money & food is rotting in the unknown banks & godowns.