Author on the Rise: Chetan Bhagat

About the Author

Chetan Bhagat graduated from IIT Delhi and completed his post-graduate studies from IIM Ahmedabad. His first book, Five Point Someone - What not to do at IIT released in May 2004 won him the Society Young Achiever's award in 2004 and the Publisher's Recognition award in 2005. His style of story telling was quite different from other Indian Authors before him, more informal, the characters anyone could relate to, and based on true incidents and settings that were believable and entertaining made his first novel a huge success.

His second book, One Night @ the Call Center, was released in India in October 2005 and continues to be a bestseller as of January 2008. The book is about six people who work at a Call Center and one night which changes it all for them. The book is being made into a big budget Bollywood film called 'Hello' starring Salman Khan, Katrnia Kaif among others.

After a Span of 3 years Chetan Bhagat's third book, "The Three Mistakes of My Life" was recently released in May 2008.

After eleven years in Hong Kong, the author relocated to Mumbai in 2008, where he works in an investment bank. Apart from books, the author has a keen interest in screenplays and spirituality. Chetan is married to Anusha, his classmate from IIMA and has twin boys Ishaan and Shyam.

'The 3 Mistakes of My Life' by Chetan Bhagat

The book based on real life events begins in a dramatic fashion with Bhagat receiving an e-mail from Govind a fan who had taken many sleeping pills and was writing to him while waiting for the deadly sleep’s embrace. Chetan was shaken enough by the incident to track the boy down to an Ahmedabad hospital. Fortunately he was still alive to tell the tale. The book is loosely based on the three mistakes Govind made in his life.

Set in the urban, but not quite metropolitan, city of Ahmedabad Chetan tells a story of this young boy and his two friends..a story about business, cricket, and religion.

Read some Questions and Answers with the Author Regarding the Book.

Some Reader Reviews of The 3 Mistakes of my Life-
Youth Curry: The 3 mistakes of my life: review
"'The 3 Mistakes of My Life' is actually 'Five Point Someone' part deux. The only difference is, the three 'five pointers' are not in an IIT but strugglers in the real sense of the word - running a small business of their own in Ahmedabad.

Fans will not be disappointed. This book has all the ingredients CB is loved and lapped up for. Characters and storyline one can relate to. The small joys and the big frustrations of growing up (which are pretty much common across India)."

livemint.com: Book review | The 3 mistakes of my life
"What strikes you first about Chetan Bhagat’s novels is the fact that this author writes about Indians and for Indians. His characters are young, ambitious and passionate and have the same moral, social and religious dilemmas as many of the young Indians today. At the same time their context and sensibility too is unabashedly Indian."

'One Night @ the Call Center' by Chetan Bhagat

The story begins with a train journey from Kanpur to Delhi, During the journey, the author meets a very beautiful girl. The girl offers to tell the author a story on the condition that he has to make it into his second book. After a lot of hesitation, the author agrees.

The novel revolves around a group of six call center employees working in Connexions call center in the Delhi suburb of Gurgaon in Haryana. It is filled with a lot of drama with unpleasant things happening to all of the leading characters. The story takes a dramatic and decisive turn when they get a phone call from God.

Read some Questions and Answers with the Author Regarding the Book.

Some Reader Reviews of One Night @ the Call Center
Youth Curry: Head vs Heart vs Hair (One Night @ the Call Center Book Review)
"Chetan Bhagat's "One Night at the Call Centre" is a book that I would classify as 'flick-lit'. Why? "

Roopinder Singh: One Night@the Call Center- Review
"Chetan Bhagat has written another book that has its finger on the pulse of the youth."

Five Point Someone- What not to do at IIT

Five Point Someone is a story about three friends in IIT who are unable to cope.
The book starts with a disclaimer, "This is not a book to teach you how to get into IIT or even how to live in college. In fact, it describes how screwed up things can get if you don't think straight."

The novel is set in the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, in the period 1991 to 1995. It is about the adventures of three mechanical engineering students (and friends), Hari Kumar (the narrator), Ryan Oberoi, and Alok Gupta, who fail to cope with the cruel grading system of the IITs and come to be known as five pointers due to their perennially low 5.something GPA's.

Read some Questions and Answers with the Author Regarding the Book.

Some Reader Reviews of Five Point Someone- What not to do at IIT
Spectrum-The Tribune: A perfect ten for Chetan Bhagat
"Chetan Bhagat might have scored a five-point average in IIT, but Kannan Shastri gives him a perfect 10 for Five Point Someone. Youthful, funny and highly original, the book guarantees more than a few laughs."

Chillibreeze.com: Book Review: Five Point Someone - What Not to do at IIT
"If you are an IITian, you will probably relate very well to this light-hearted narrative about the life of three average guys at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (And if you are an IITian you would also know what “average” in IIT means)."