Among the
Indian authors who have gained popularity by writing novels in English, Chetan
Bhagat is one of the most notable. In fact, calling him just "one of the
most notable" would be an understatement, as all of his novels have been
highly popular with readers. The primary metric for judging how well a book is
liked by its readers is the number of copies sold. Each of Chetan Bhagat's
books sells over a million copies. That’s just for the original English
editions. In addition, his books have been translated—both legally and
illegally—into several other languages. Legal translations are those authorized
by the author and/or the original publisher, while illegal translations are
made without their knowledge or consent.
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| Chetan Bhagat |
Why do so
many people enjoy Chetan Bhagat's writing? What is the literary value of his
work? These questions are not easy to answer because evaluating the quality of
stories and novels is subjective. Different people have different reasons for
liking a piece of writing. Even the works of Nobel Prize-winning authors are
not guaranteed to appeal to everyone.
Each of
R.K. Narayan's novels is timeless, but they are not as popular in the same way.
Chetan Bhagat, on the other hand, understands very well how to achieve mass
appeal. His writing style, the way he describes events, and his dialogues often
make readers feel like they are reading a movie, not a book. He promotes his
books much like movie advertisements, creating hype before their release.
All of
Chetan Bhagat's books have been or are being adapted into films. He himself
writes screenplays for movies. Although the famous Aamir Khan-starring movie Three
Idiots was based on his first book, Five Point Someone, Chetan
Bhagat did not receive due recognition for it. Since then, he has been more
cautious and remains directly involved in the screenplay-writing process.
The target
audience of his novels is the English-speaking young upper-middle-class and
upper-class readers. His stories, narratives, and dialogues often revolve
around modern romance, sexuality, and the everyday challenges faced by young
Indians.
Chetan
Bhagat’s latest three books are direct thrillers. The Girl in Room 105, One
Arranged Murder, and 400 Days all fall under the thriller genre. In
these books, Keshav and Saurabh, two amateur detectives and close friends,
unravel complex mysteries. The stories progress through Keshav’s narration.
The plot
of 400 Days revolves around the abduction of a twelve-year-old girl.
Alia and Manish’s daughter Siya disappears at night from their secure family
home. She had been sleeping in the same room as her younger sister Suhana and
some cousins. However, by morning, Siya was gone, and no one knew where she
was. Only five-year-old Suhana claimed that someone came during the night,
showed a knife, and took Siya away. Being so young and half-asleep, Suhana
couldn’t explain what she saw properly. Alia and Manish are extremely wealthy
businesspeople with no shortage of resources or influence, yet the police and
professional investigators failed to solve the case. It was assumed that Siya
had been killed. While everyone else gave up, Siya’s mother Alia did not.
Determined to find her daughter, Alia sought help from Keshav and
Saurabh—primarily from Keshav, who also brought Saurabh into the case.
Chetan
Bhagat’s style of detective fiction differs slightly from conventional
approaches. The narrative includes detailed accounts of Alia and Manish’s love
story, and eventually, Keshav and Alia also fall in love. Their romance isn’t
the conservative, traditional Indian type; rather, it’s a bold, European-style
relationship where physical intimacy takes precedence, often preceding
emotional connection. There’s no hesitation about physical relationships in
Bhagat’s characters, whether it’s the seventeen-year-old middle-class Alia from
Five Point Someone or the thirty-year-old homemaker Alia in 400 Days.
That said,
some conventional elements of detective fiction remain intact. Nobody is beyond
suspicion, and in the end, the least suspected person turns out to be the
culprit. However, the Indian police are portrayed as so incompetent that one
wonders how they solve real-life problems at all.
The
biggest strength of Chetan Bhagat’s writing is its ability to captivate
readers. Beyond that, there doesn’t seem to be any groundbreaking reason for
its appeal. 400 Days isn’t particularly unique, nor does the mystery
stand out as extraordinary. However, Bhagat’s language is excellent—there’s no
unnecessary verbosity, and his sense of humour is remarkable.
If one
judges the story itself, it raises the question: has there been a decline in
good detective fiction?
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