We have all been witness to Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 44-year career as he gave Hindi film industry gems in Parinda (1989), 1942: A Love Story (1994) and 3 Idiots (2009), among others. For those who wondered about the behind-the-scenes magic that led to the creation of these movies, the filmmaker has released Unscripted, a book that features anecdotes from his life and career.

“We never intended to write it [so soon],” begins Chopra about the book that has been designed as conversations between long-time collaborator Abhijat Joshi and him. “These are chats that Abhijat and I had over five years back. We had thought of turning it into a book some day. When Nasreen Munni Kabir [TV producer] came for the subtitles of Shikara [2020], she was fascinated with it and helped us put the book together.”

In the book, Chopra has reflected on how he steered clear of commercial film tropes to develop stories that he believed in and emerged one of the most successful producers in Bollywood. “The idea behind [the endeavour] is to inspire young filmmakers. I want them to understand that they don’t have to sell their souls to be successful here.”

On the work front, reports suggest that the third instalment of his hit franchise, Munna Bhai, is off the table. Quiz him on it, and he asserts that the comedy is in the works. “We have not made the third Munna Bhai because I am not happy with the script yet. Abhijat and Raju [Rajkumar Hirani] are working on the script. Hopefully, we’ll have a script by the year-end. I never said I won’t make the film. I said I won’t ever make a substandard Munna Bhai.”