Chetan Bhagat, the Feminist, is ready for the trolls
By the time I reached Chetan Bhagat’s office, a nice, cozy suite of rooms, which he had recently acquired in the Dunhill Building in Bandra, Mumbai, he had already done one interview. “A radio interview. That one got over, and now we have you.” It was only 11am.
Contrary to the perception circulating in the liberal part of the social media, Bhagat is a modest man with his sneakered feet planted firmly on the spotless floor of his office. If he is cocky and arrogant, he hid it well through the day.
That would be not an easy task if you had had the kind of success Bhagat has had in the past decade or so. He is probably India’s most popular millennial gift to popular millennial literature.
His six novels, starting with Five Point Someone, a novel about three characters whose low grades are a source of darkish comedy, have sold more than 10 million copies so far. The successful movie Three Idiots is based on his first novel.
His seventh novel, Bhagat says, “is about Feminism”.
“For the first time, I assume a female voice.”
Feminism as we know it may not be the same after the 80,000-odd words he normally writes for each novel.
He is rather excited by the prospect, and ready to be trolled.