The CB effect

It was sometime in late 2008 or early 2009, my brother gave me the novel “Five point someone” to me. I had no idea who Chetan Bhagat was though he was a popular figure back then. By the time I began to read his five point someone; two other books were released by him. I read five point someone with no real expectation. I hadn’t read any novel before that and that was my first step which took me to an other world of fiction.

As soon as I turned the last page of five point someone novel, I realised that this guy is so good. His first book Five Point Someone wasn’t a literary phenomenon but had broken all sales records. The story was set in IIT Delhi and had a certain charm to it. Bhagat must have borrowed a lot from his own life and that honesty was reflected in the book. I idolised him, the way he writes, the way he takes the story forward, the way he builds a charter and finally his lucid literature (many hate him for the way he writes and some feel that he is spoiling the English literature). For a first time reader like me, I felt easy and I could easily connect with the story and I think to be a successful writer you need the reader to travel along with your story, he does that with ease.

In India, if you are successful, people would want you to fail and try to pull you down. Being successful is so tough in our country and our people are so called narrow minded, they can’t celebrate a person’s success and make it a global phenomenon.  He has been largely criticized for his literature and usage of excessive adult content in all his novels. Though there are more hater for him in our country than his lover, his books are block-busters one after the other. His books are read and reread, becoming blueprint for successful and unsuccessful films. His last book ‘Revolution2020’ was criticized by many, but it saw a record collection, it had crossed a figure that no other Indian writer could even dream of.

Almost all his novels are been transformed into mainstream bollywood movies which increased his fan base to larger extent but also his hater list too. His latest novel ‘Half girlfriend’ has hit the stores and it has already been a best seller. I still could not figure it out that how a person with so many haters for his work could able to deliver his work and make it a huge success, this shows the pure class of his writing, though you hate him you can’t be without picking his book.

Whether you love him or hate him, chances are, you've read him. With almost five million books sold since his first paperback blockbuster came out, almost everyone owns a copy of at least one of Bhagat's five bestsellers. He might not be a literary purist's favorite man, but Bhagat has made India sit up and notice him. What more, Bhagat has made India read.

P.S: I love reading fiction and I'm his big fan so my view can be biased.