Author's mass appeal upsets Indian literati
He is the biggest-selling writer in English you have never heard of. His name does not grace any Booker list, but it is found on the lips of every college student in India. While the global literati dwell on the fiction of India's past, Chetan Bhagat has become India's favorite writer by embracing the present.
At 35, Bhagat's chronicling of the trials and tribulations of the country's middle-class youth has made him a publishing phenomenon in India. His first two novels have sold more than a million copies, dwarfing those of writers in English labelled best-selling.
His latest novel, a bittersweet small town comedy set amid a trio of Indian obsessions, cricket, religion and business, sells a copy every 17 seconds. His work will reach parts of India others can only dream of when the Bollywood film Hello, adapted from his book One Night @ the Call Centre, opens on Friday.
