IANS

Noida, Jan 2: Actor Aamir Khan Friday said author Chetan Bhagat was "hungry for publicity" and denied claims that the film "3 Idiots" was 70 percent based on Bhagat's bestseller "Five Point Someone".

"Three months earlier he (Bhagat) was saying something else and now he is saying something else as the movie is a huge hit now," Aamir told reporters at a press conference at Big Cinemas here.

"While we were shooting at IIM (Indian Institute of Management) Bangalore, Chetan had come to meet us. So when I told him that I haven't read your book, he replied that there was no need to do so as I have read the script and it is different from the book... So no need to read it," the actor said.

"Now he is telling everyone that our movie is 70 percent on the book. It all shows that we are being used, you (media) are being used. This clearly shows that he is hungry for publicity," Aamir said.

He added that Bhagat was trying to take away credit from Abhijat Joshi, the writer of the film that has grossed over Rs.100 crore in its first four days.

"Did you know about the writer before the movie was released?" he asked.

"Abhijat and Raju (director Rajkumar Hirani) have worked on this script for three years. Chetan is a big writer but Abhijat was the other guy who was working on the script. Full credit is given to him and he is not their (producers or directors) brother. But he deserved it," Aamir said.

"All Chetan is trying to do right now is taking away credit from these people who deserve it. Let's not encourage someone who is hungry for publicity," he added.

Directed by Hirani, "3 Idiots" stars Aamir, R.Madhavan, Sharman Joshi and Kareena Kapoor.

Reliance BIG Entertainment, distributor of the film, released about 2,000 prints across 40 countries.