New Delhi, Dec 24 (IANS) If you thought Rajkumar Hirani’s “3 Idiots” was a cover to cover adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s bestseller “Five Point Someone”, Bollywood actor Sharman Joshi would disagree. Joshi, who stars in the film, says it has no resemblance to the book in terms of the story.
“‘3 Idiots’ is based on Chetan Bhagat’s ‘Five Point Someone’ but it’s not the book that you want to see in the form of a film when you go out. There are only a few points from the book in the film. Otherwise it’s a totally different screenplay and story,” Sharman told IANS on phone from Mumbai.

“‘Five Point Someone’ was an extremely popular book and loved by people and so it is very important for people to know that it’s not the book they are going to go out and see. It (the movie) is very different from what the book was,” he added.

Sharman stressed on the differences between the book and the movie and said: “There are three guys who are studying in an engineering college and there is a love interest as it is based on Chetan Bhagat’s book and so he has been given the credit for that. But the story is completely different.”

Releasing Friday, “3 Idiots” has been produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and stars Aamir Khan and R. Madhavan alongside Sharman. Kareena Kapoor and Boman Irani also play pivotal roles in the comic-drama.

Throwing light on his character, Sharman said: “My character’s name is Raju Rastogi. He is brilliant at what he does which is engineering. He comes from a very humble background as his father is a postman.

“Because he is doing well academically they start building hopes that he will pull them out of poverty and help them enjoy the pleasures of life. And it is because of this pressure that he is not able to live his life,” he added.

Noteworthy is the predominant ‘Idiot’ tag in the film despite it being about engineering students.

Sharman explained: “The way we are interpreting idiots is quite different from what the dictionary meaning of idiots is. Our interpretation of idiots is someone who follows one’s own heart and who probably goes against the norms because it is something he believes in. And ‘I Did It On my Terms’ is the full form of it.”

Sharman agreed that “3 Idiots” also carries a predominant message like Chopra and Hirani’s earlier ventures — “Munnabhai M.B.B.S” and “Lage Raho Munna Bhai”.

“Sure, it has. It’s narrated in a lighter way and there are moments which are rather dramatic. There are things which can fundamentally change the way you think. I hope it goes across to the people and they appreciate it,” he said.

The actor was also ecstatic about having re-teamed with Aamir and Madhavan for the movie after “Rang De Basanti”.

“It (the experience) has been special again. We partied last on the sets of ‘Rang De Basanti’ and continued it on the sets of ‘3 Idiots’,” he said.

“We all get along very well and the bond is hardly worked upon… It just kind of flows and we’ve shared a lot of special moments. We had a great time working on the film.”

Sharman’s future projects include “Toh Baat Pakki” and “Allah Ke Bande”, both slated for release early next year.

He is also hoping for more offers after “3 Idiots”.

“I have been reading about two to three scripts a week and I hope the number goes up to six to eight,” he said.