Rajkumar Hirani had principally agreed to direct 12th Fail before Vidhu Vinod Chopra took over: ‘Raju said, sir this story is a movie’

During a special event to celebrate the success of the film, the filmmaker was asked by lyricist Swanand Kirkire about how the process truly began. Vidhu Vinod Chopra recalled that it started with Manoj coming to meet him with the book, requesting a blurb.

“The book was called 12th Fail. Being who I am, I told him if I read, I will take two days because I am a slow reader, and if I find it ‘bakwaas’ then you will have to publish that as well! He started laughing and requested if I could send the book to few people, like Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Rajkumar Hirani and others, and I sent it.

“After six months, he came with the printed book. I saw that Sachin Tendulkar had written highly of it behind its cover and so did Raju Hirani. I called Raju and asked him about it, he exclaimed, ‘Sir, aapne book nahi padi?’ I said no! He told me, ‘Sir please read, it is a movie!’ Back then, I wasn’t in the mood to make a film. I asked him if he would make it, so Raju told me he was already writing a film but if I wrote the film, he would direct it. I was ok with this.”

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Vidhu Vinod Chopra said it was only after this conversation that he started reading the book and “slowly got involved.” He recalled getting in touch with Anurag Pathak, and began the writing process.

“While I was writing, I fell in love with the script! I told Raju that I can’t work with these actors and even they can’t work with me, thoda mushkil hai. Then he was the one who suggested Vikrant. I had seen his A Death in the Gunj and I really liked him. I stay three hours away from Mumbai, and he came there for two-three days.

“I remember in my study, I was figuring out the first shot. I wondered how would he play a young guy in the initial portions of the film. Then he went into a child pose–I hope we have footage of that–and it is exactly the first shot of the film, when he is cheating. This actor inspired me to direct this film,” he added.

The film opened to widespread critical acclaim, especially for Vikrant Massey’s performance. Vinod Chopra and Hirani have worked together on the hit Munna Bhai films, and the blockbusters PK and 3 Idiots.

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