When Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s mother slapped him for gifting Rs 4 crore car to Big B

Vidhu Vinod Chopra is one of the acclaimed filmmakers of the Indian film industry and has worked with several big stars of thetinsel town. However, did you know that Chopra once got a tight slap from his mother over the luxury gift worth crores that he gave to legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan?

Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Amitabh Bachchan had worked in the 2007 movie Eklavya, and after the release of the movie, the filmmaker gifted the actor a luxurious Rolls-Royce Phantom worth Rs 4 crore.

In a conversation with Siddharth Kanan, Chopra recalled the whole story and how he ended up receiving a slap from his mother.

The 12th Fail director also shared that Jaya Bachchan warned Big B before working with Chopra onthe movie, and how he will not be able to tolerate his behaviour on set. And much like Jaya's warning, Chopra and Amitabh did have some disagreement on the set. However, the actortolerated the filmmaker's behaviour and completed the movie. As a sweet gesture of appreciation, the director went on to give him the car worth crores.

“When we were making Eklavya, Amitabh Bachchan came to the sets with one suitcase for a schedule of two months. I asked, ‘Amit, you travel very light?’ He said, ‘No, Jaya told me ‘more than one week you cannot stand Vinod’,” he shared.

"But because he did not leave and completed the whole film, I gifted him a Rolls-Royce worth Rs 4.5 crore, because he tolerated me and did great work in the film," Choprashared during the interview.

The hilarious part of the story came after Chopra gifted the luxury car in the presence of his mother, who didn't know that the car cost was in crores.

Sharing a funny incident, the director said, “I will never forget this incident. I took my mother with me when I was gifting the car to Amitabh. She handed him the keys. She came back, sat in my car, which was a blue Maruti van. She called Big B ‘Lamboo.’ I didn’t have a driver at the time, so I was driving. She told me, ‘Tu Lamboo nu gaadi dede? (You gave the car to him?)’ I said, ‘Haan.’ She replied, ‘Tu khud kyun nahi leta gaadi? (Why don’t you buy a car yourself?).’"

He continued, "I told her I would buy a car; there is time. She responded, saying, ‘11 lakh ki toh hogi (It must be worth Rs 11 lakh).’ And I laughed because she didn’t know that it was Rs 4.5 crore. I told her the cost, and she slapped me, calling me ‘bewakoof.’ I will never forget that, because what is money if it can’t give you joy.”

Apart from Amitabh, the 2007 film Eklavya: The Royal Guard starred Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt, and Vidya Balan in the lead roles.

In the same interview, the director shared how he refused to book a Rs 65,000 hotel room for Big B.

Stating budget constraints as a reason, he recalled, “The crisis there was that I could have booked the room for Amitabh, but then I couldn’t leave other stars Saif (Ali Khan) and Sanjay (Dutt) out. I would have to book rooms for them too, and that’s how films go over budget. Then I couldn’t have made the nuanced film like Eklavya. In that case, you could make a bad film that works everywhere.” He also explained how “money in arts is a very dangerous thing” as it limits creative ability.

Although the movie was not a hit at the box office, it earned rave reviews from critics and was also India’s official entry to the Oscars in 2007.

(With inputs from agencies)