"I hate producing. I hate it being called a producer..please don`t call me that. I am the associate screenplay..I am just helping them (directors) realise their dreams, but I am not a producer. If I had not produced `Munnabhai MBBS` or `Parineeta` I think the idea that the directors wanted to communicate would be lost under commercial pressure," Chopra said last evening.
PVR Cinemas, in association with Vidhu Vinod Chopra, organised a first of its kind retrospective of his films as a tribute to mark his completion of 30 years in the industry.
Most of the films made under Vinod Chopra Films including like `1942 : A Love Story`, (1993), `Kareeb` (1998), `Parineeta` (2005), `Eklavya` (2007) and few others were screened for the audience at the festival, that ended on Wednesday. Also, cast and crew of some film were there for discussions as well.
The films that Chopra had directed were of serious and dark nature including `Khamosh` `Parinda`, `Mission Kashmir` and `Eklavya` but the ones that he only produced and not directed dealt with lighter subjects like the `Munnabhai` series and `3 Idiots`, helmed by Raju Hirani.
"It is Raju`s personality that I was protecting.. it is nothing to do with me. If he was a dark guy who would have loved blood and killing...I would have still protected him. I have been part of the writing process for `Munnabhai MBBS`, I like it when I write something funny, but to direct something like that is..I can`t do it...the only time I had made a mistake by doing something light was when I made `Kareeb`, Chopra said.
The director-producer also revealed that he made the romantic film starring Bobby Deol and Shabana Raza only for his wife and film critic Anupama. "I had fallen in love with my wife and I wrote `Kareeb` for her. She hated guns, blood.. `Parinda`.. so I wrote this silly-mushy love story for her...it was the most expensive love letter I had wrote," Chopra said.