Chetan Bhagat (born 22 April 1974) is an Indian author, motivational speaker, and columnist.
Early Life
He was born on 22 April 1974, in Delhi, India. His father worked in the Indian army, and his mother was a government employee. He studied in local Delhi schools.
Later, he joined the ‘Army Public School’ in Dhaula Kuan, Delhi. After completing his schooling at the Army Public School, he joined the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Delhi. In 1995 he graduated with a BTech in mechanical engineering.
After graduation, he went to the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Ahmedabad, where he received an MBA. During that time, he began writing regularly.
Career
After graduating in 1997, he got a job at Peregrine Investments Holdings, one of the biggest investment banks in Asia. He moved with his family to Hong Kong.
After that, he got a job at one of the biggest investment banks in the world, Goldman Sachs, in 1998.
He continued to write his first novel while working. He worked at Goldman Sachs for many years before finally quitting for a better job after writing ‘Five Point Someone’ for many years.
After joining the ‘Deutsche Bank’ in the mid-2000s, Chetan Bhagat was made a vice-president by 2006. After working in Hong Kong for ten years, he moved back to India in March 2008. He made a lot of money writing novels within a few months. So, he quit his job in investment banking.
Writing career
Chetan Bhagat began writing “Five Point Someone“ in the early 2000s, while he worked at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong. He submitted his manuscript to ‘Rupa & Co.,’ a publishing house in Old Delhi, and they asked him to rework a few things. In 2004, the novel finally came out and was a huge hit. It told the story of three engineering students who were struggling at work and at home. More than a million copies were sold. ‘3 Idiots’ was loosely based on the novel and became one of the most successful Hindi movies ever.
After the success of his debut novel, he wrote his second novel, ‘One Night @ the Call Center.’ It revolves around the night-shift culture at Indian call centers. The novel, which came out in 2005, sold 50,000 copies in the first three days. It was the fastest-selling book of its time in India.
‘The 3 Mistakes of My Life‘ was his third novel. It was a huge hit, selling a lakh copies in 3 months. Bhagat also became India’s most successful English-language writer after the book was a bestseller. The movie Kai Po Che! was based on ‘The 3 Mistakes of My Life’, which was hugely successful.
He published a semi-autobiographical novel titled “2 States” in 2009, telling the story of falling in love with a South Indian woman and the troubles that followed. Both critically and commercially, it became a huge success and was later turned into a movie of the same name, as well.
In his later novels, such as ‘Revolution 2020’, ‘Half Girlfriend,’ and ‘One Indian Girl,‘ he was a huge commercial success.
When he published his 2018 novel “The Girl in Room 105,” the enthusiasm among his readers had significantly reduced. But the book was a big hit.
He also judged a dance reality show titled Nach Baliye.
Award
He won the Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay for Kai Po Che! at the 59th Filmfare Awards in 2014.
Read More; Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism