Chetan Bhagat Age, Wife, Family, Children, Biography & More

In the early 2000s, while Chetan Bhagat was working at ‘Goldman Sachs’ in Hong Kong, he had begun working on his debut novel, ‘Five Point Someone.’ He wrote during office hours and kept rewriting and polishing the draft for years. He wrote about 15 drafts of the novel and sent the final manuscript to many publishers. However, he was rejected by most of them. Eventually, ‘Rupa & Co.,’ a publishing house in Old Delhi, accepted his manuscript and asked him to rework on a few things.

The novel was eventually published in 2004 and received instant success. It narrated the story of three engineering students, struggling in their professional and personal lives. The novel sold more than a million copies worldwide. The 2009-released Hindi film ‘3 Idiots’ was loosely based on the novel and went on to become one of the most successful Hindi films of all time.

Excited with the success of his debut novel, Bhagat sat down to write his second novel, titled ‘One Night @ the Call Center.’ It was based on the night-shift work culture at the Indian call centers. The novel, which was published in 2005, went to become yet another major success, selling 50,000 copies in the first 3 days of its release. It became India’s fastest-selling book of its time.

By then, Chetan Bhagat had gained immense confidence about starting a full-time writing career, but he was still not able to take the big risk of quitting his job. His third novel, ‘The 3 Mistakes of My Life,’ was released in 2008 and became a huge success, selling a lakh copies in 3 months. As the book became a bestseller, Bhagat also became the most successful English-language writer in India. ‘The 3 Mistakes of My Life’ became the inspiration for the Hindi film ‘Kai Po Che!,’ which was hugely successful.

Baghat’s fourth novel, 2 States: The Story of My Marriage, is a autobiographical novel that focuses on the prevailing issue of interstate marriage in India. It is based on Baghat’s and his wife’s own experience, who like the protagonist of the novel relentlessly tried to convince their respective families of different casts to approve of their marriage. The book highlights the conservative mindset shared by several sects in Indian states which prohibit marriage outside their cast. The book and its film adaptation was a major success. Baghat wrote two more books; Revolution 2020 (2011), and What Young India Wants (2012). Additionally, he received Society Young Achiever’ award, Publisher’s Recognition award and Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay.

Timeline
1974: Chetan Bhagat was Born in Delhi
1991: Enrolled in IIT
1995: Enrolled in IIM Ahmadabad
1997: recognized by IIM Ahmadabad as "The best outgoing student"
1998: Got married to AnushaSuryanarayanan
2004: published his first book "Five Point Someone - What not to do at IIT!"
2005: Published his second book "One Night @ the Call Center"
2008: Published his third book "The 3 Mistakes of My Life"
2009: Published his fourth book "2 States: The Story of My Marriage"

Awards and accolades

• Featured on Time magazine's list of World's 100 Most Influential People of 2010 in the Artists category
• Listed '47' among the "100 Most Creative People 2011" by the Fast Company American business magazine and business media brand
• Won the "CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2014" award in the Entertainment category
• Ranked No. 82 on the 2017 Forbes India Celebrity 100 list.
• Won Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay in 2014.
• Won Zee Cine Award for best story in 2014