Chetan Bhagat

Chetan Bhagat

Chetan Bhagat in 2012
Born (1974-04-22) 22 April 1974
New Delhi, India
Language English (Novels and Columns), Hindi (Columns)
Nationality Indian
Education Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi(IIT Delhi) (B. Tech, Mechanical Engineering), Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad(IIM A) (MBA)
Genre Fiction, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Non-fiction
Notable works Five point someone, One Night @ the Call Center, 2 States: The Story of My Marriage, The 3 Mistakes of My Life, Revolution 2020, What Young India Wants, Half Girlfriend, One Indian Girl
Spouse Anusha Suryanarayanan Bhagat (m. 1998-present)
Children Shyam, Ishaan

Chetan Bhagat (born 22 April 1974) is an Indian author, columnist, screenwriter, television personality and motivational speaker, known for his English-language dramedy novels about young urban middle-class Indians.

A noted public figure, Bhagat also writes for columns about youth, career development[1] and current affairs[2][3] for The Times of India (in English) and Dainik Bhaskar (in Hindi).[4]

Bhagat's novels have sold over seven million copies. In 2008, The New York Times cited Bhagat as "the biggest selling English language novelist in India’s history".[5][6]

Bhagat's screenwriting efforts have included the dramedies Kai Po Che! (2013), 2 States (2014), the action-superhero movie Kick (2015), and Half Girlfriend (2017). He won the Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay for Kai Po Che! at the 59th Filmfare Awards in January 2014.

Early life

Bhagat was born on 22 April 1974 in New Delhi, India. His father was an army officer and his mother was a government employee in the agricultural department. His younger brother, Ketan Bhagat, is also a novelist.

He completed his school years at The Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan in Delhi. He received his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in 1995 and his MBA degree from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad in 1997. Bhagat recounted in an interview with Newslaundry that he applied after his studies to the investment banking company Goldman Sachs, where he was finally selected after 27 internal interviews.[7]

Bhagat worked for Goldman Sachs in their Hong Kong office as an investment banker for nearly a decade and wrote Five Point Someone while in Hong Kong. When he got fired, he then had to move to Mumbai to focus full-time on his writing career.

He has been married to Anusha Suryanarayanan since 1998. She hails from Tamil Nadu and was his classmate at IIM Ahmedabad.[8]

Career

Bhagat is the author of bestselling novels Five Point Someone (2004), One Night @ the Call Center (2005), The 3 Mistakes of My Life (2008), 2 States (2009), Revolution 2020 (2011), What Young India Wants (2012) (speeches and columns), Half Girlfriend (2014), Making India Awesome (2015) and One Indian Girl (2016).

All the books have remained bestsellers since their release and five have inspired Bollywood films (which are the hit films 3 Idiots, Kai Po Che!, 2 States, Half Girlfriend and Hello). In 2008, The New York Times cited Bhagat as "the biggest selling English language novelist in India’s history".[5][6]

Time magazine named him as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.[9]

Bhagat voices his opinion frequently at leading events.[10][11][12] He quit his investment banking career in 2009, to focus on writing. He debuted as a screenplay writer with the 2014 film Kick.

Bhagat has columns in The Times of India and Hindustan Times.[13]

Apart from writing, Chetan has worked on TV as well as scripted several Bollywood movies.He was a judge on the Voice of India Star Anchor Hunt.[14] Chetan Bhagat also hosts 7 RCR on ABP news, which began airing 11 January 2014. The show features a series of biographies of India's prime ministerial candidates.[15]

Bhagat has received wide recognition across the multilingual and diverse Indian society, Such recognition is unprecedented for an English language writer. Bhagat was interviewed on Comedy Nights with Kapil and also interviewed on Kapil Sharma Show while he was promoting his movie Half Girlfriend in 2017.

Among his other activities, Bhagat is known for delivering speeches on programmes organised by corporations, educational institutes, newspapers and media houses like Dainik Bhaskar, The Times of India and at other conferences apart from writing columns for the above.[16]

He was the judge of the dance reality show Nach Baliye.[17]

He was featured in Forbes India magazine as one of the top celebrities of India in 2016. He was listed 40th out of 100.

Bibliography

Novels-

Non-fiction

Filmography

Year Film Screenplay Story Producer Notes
2008 Hello Yes
2009 3 Idiots Yes
2012 Nanban Yes
2013 Kai Po Che! Yes Yes Won Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay
2014 2 States Yes Yes
2014 Kick Yes
2017 Half Girlfriend Yes Yes Yes

Awards and recognition

See also

References

  1. ↑ Chetan Bhagat in Kathmandu Rejuvenates Youth Potential Archived 4 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine.. Ekendraonline.com (20 July 2010). Retrieved on 2012-06-19.
  2. ↑ Bhagat, Chetan (19 August 2011). "Anna Hazare's fight for change has inspired millions of Indians". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  3. ↑ Columns. Chetan Bhagat. Retrieved on 2012-06-19.
  4. ↑ "Chetan Bhagat Columnist". Dainik Bhaskar. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  5. 1 2 Greenlees, Donald (26 March 2008). "An Investment Banker Finds Fame Off the Books". The New York Times.
  6. 1 2 "Chetan Bhagat's much-anticipated novel will be released this October". Asia Pacific Arts. 20 September 2011.
  7. ↑ "Interview with Chetan Bhagat 15 October 2016". www.newslaundry.com. News laundry. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  8. ↑ http://www.deccanchronicle.com/140410/entertainment-bollywood/article/im-doing-somnething-right-chetan-bhagat
  9. ↑ Time 100 most influential people in the world list 2010. Time.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-19.
  10. ↑ CIOIN Archived 5 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine.. Cio.in (9 March 2011). Retrieved on 2012-06-19.
  11. ↑ "Open letter to Sonia Gandhi from young India". The Times of India. 13 February 2011.
  12. ↑ Becoming One With the World. Chetan Bhagat (21 November 2008). Retrieved on 2012-06-19.
  13. ↑ "Columns". chetanbhagat.com. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  14. ↑ "Judges for Anchor hunt: Chetan Bhagat" Archived 23 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine.. staranchorhunt.com. 19 March 2010.
  15. ↑ "Chetan Bhagat's '7 RCR' to go on air Jan 11". IANS. 11 January 2014. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  16. ↑ Chetan Bhagat at PROTON Academic Conclave 2009. YouTube. Retrieved on 2012-06-19.
  17. ↑ http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/chetan-bhagat-to-dance-on-nach-baliye-season-7-finale-karishma-tanna-upen-patel-rashami-desai-nandish-sandhu-amruta-khanvilkar-himanshu-malhotra/1/450016.html
  18. 1 2 Biodata of Chetan Bhagat. Delhispider.com. Retrieved on 2014-03-28.
  19. ↑ "Search Results for Chetan Bhagat". Time. 21 April 2011.
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