Veteran filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra, known for iconic films like Parinda, 1942: A Love Story, and 3 Idiots, recently shared a hard-hitting critique of Bollywood’s evolving culture during an episode of Creator x Creator hosted by SCREEN. The filmmaker opened up about his experiences with now-celebrated actors and how success often alters personalities and artistic intent.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra slams industry’s obsession with fame: “Your spine is now connected to your bank balance”
“There is more purity in new people, less corruption. Many people who assisted me have become great filmmakers today; when I meet them now, I can see the difference. When they worked with me, there was a certain purity. Unfortunately, if I cast a new face in my film and that one movie does well, it changes them,” Chopra said, underlining the transformative—often negative—impact of fame on fresh talent.
Having launched the careers of several celebrated stars, Chopra didn’t hold back in recalling how the industry changes people. “I’ve worked with so many people and I’ve seen them change. Mission Kashmir was Hrithik Roshan’s first film… Vidya Balan’s first film… Boman Irani’s first film… There’s a whole list, I don’t know how many. As they become successful, all of them, this isn’t an individual thing, they change. That’s why I like people who are nobodies, because once you become somebody, you don’t remain the same person,” he said candidly.
The filmmaker also expressed disappointment in the industry’s growing fixation on box office numbers and mass success over creative authenticity. “The people only care about the hits these days. No one has a vision, and no one wants to create for the joy of creating. They make one massive film with a Rs 400 crore box office collection, and suddenly they start walking differently,” Chopra remarked.
In a sharply worded anecdote, Chopra illustrated the shift in attitude that often accompanies success. “There was a producer who I knew, and he was always very polite while talking and had a soft demeanour. Suddenly one day, he meets me with his chest puffed and some weight in his voice. I asked him, ‘Teri koi picture hit ho gayi (Did one of your films succeed)?’ He said, ‘Sir, you know everything; my film did succeed.’ I told him that I had no idea that one of his films worked; all I knew was that his spine is connected to his bank balance, and that’s why he was walking upright. These days the spine is always connected to the bank balance and not the quality of their work.”
Chopra’s brutally honest insights offer a sobering look at the evolution of creative integrity in modern Indian cinema.
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