Extreme feminists on Twitter are telling me that Radhika is not a pure feminist. She is listening to her mom and agreeing to get married. But in my research, this is how the Indian girls are, says author Chetan Bhagat
HYDERABAD: Chetan Bhagat, the author who inspires the middle-class youth to dream big, be it in choosing their profession or convincing parents about their love through his bestsellers, was at his charming best when he visited the city to launch his latest, ‘One Indian Girl’ on the weekend. In an exclusive interview with City Express, he reveals the changes his life went through, his ‘me time’ and much more.
The jam-packed Inorbit Mall at Hi-Tec City came to a standstill when Chetan Bhagat entered the mall. From waiting outside the Crossword store to have a glimpse of him to fighting with the bouncers for a selfie with him, his fans have demonstrated it loud and clear that he is one of the most-sought after novelists. After William Shakespeare, J K Rowling, Sidney Sheldon, if there is any author, who is a known name among the non-bookworms too in India is Chetan Bhagat. He may have many haters, but he does strike a chord with the middleclass youth, who are typically the protagonists in his novels. Be it an IIM graduate or a local polytechnic college student, every youngster can recount his books, get nostalgic, smile and snigger while reading. By keeping it tangible, engaging and relatable, Chetan has managed to seize a lot of love. He is a hit among the youth in India – his movies entering the Rs 00 crore club is a proof.
Radhika is an investment banker, rich, brainy, beautiful, outspoken and ultra-modern. Despite having such adjectives in her kitty, she falls prey to her parent’s pressure of getting married and much more. Speaking about his latest book ‘One Indian Girl’ and its protagonist he says, “It’s a mild way of explaining what feminism is all about. Feminism is a comprehensive subject. It ranges from female foeticides to consent to other atrocities. My book is about women and their high career aspirations, dreams and how intelligent girls find it difficult to find love and how boyfriends get insecure handling her extemporaneous and robust persona.”
Hum ladki wale hai! Society kya sochegi and many more patent dialogues of parents have impacted bold girls too. Chetan says his book is about the constant struggle between being a feminist and how the society makes them vulnerable.
“Extreme feminists on Twitter are telling me that Radhika is not a pure feminist. She is listening to her mom and agreeing to get married. But in my research, this is how the Indian girls are and that is how people deal. Girls have accepted and liked the book,” he says.
“Kangana Ranaut read the book and she loved it. May be she might love to do the role of Radhika,” Chetan reveals, while speaking about his next movie, Half Girlfriend and it is already done with 70 per cent of shooting.
Chetan prefers to cut off and travel while penning down his books. “It used to be Goa and Delhi. Now it’s often abroad. Most of ‘One Indian Girl’ was written in Hong Kong,” he shares. His favourite moments while drafting his book is waiting for the coffee-muffin break and some good music, which he promises to give himself after reaching his writing quota of words. Indians love cinema is a universal truth and the best way to wide audience in the country is celluloid. The best-selling author finds himself lucky for most of his stories have become successful films.
Every level of life demands of different version of us. Chetan too has evolved with each book. “I have become older, patient and easy going with every book. My writing style has improved. I am better at taking criticism. I am now taking subject closer to my heart than looking at the selling point,” he shares with pride.
After becoming a south Indian ‘mappilai’ (son-in-law) Chetan says he fell in love with the south Indian cuisines. The north Indian in him always thought it was only idli and dosa down the nation and now he is already drooling over Chettinad, Palakad and many distinct cuisines.