Huawei to embed Bhagat’s books

Huawei will embed books from Indian author Chetan Bhagat in its MediaPad tablet, as a part of a deal under which Bhagat also becomes the company’s brand ambassador in India. Bhagat, who is expected to launch his new book The Revolution 2020 on October 7th, will be associated with the promoting the tablet, but Huawei tells the Economic Times that it will “consider the possibility of Chetan creating content for the brand, for instance, writing short stories that will be available for Huawei device users.”

For a books publishing industry still coming to grips with digital delivery of books, this does set a rather useful precedent, though one can’t be sure of whether such an offer will be open to other writers as well: Bhagat has mass appeal, and his books are positioned and priced to appeal to a readership that wants content that is easy and not high-brow. He is fairly active (and provocative) on Twitter, and has over half a million followers.

Full report here Medianama

Chetan Bhagat to endorse Huawei

India's best-selling writer is entering unchartered territory, perhaps a first for any writer—the world of celebrity brand ambassadors. Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei Technologies has roped in Chetan Bhagat as brand associate for its devices such as smartphones and tablets, a senior executive told ET.

"Chetan Bhagat is a youth icon and he has changed the dynamics of the publishing industry. Our endeavour is to bring highend technology at affordable prices. Our target audience and values are the same," Huawei Devices India President Victor Shan said. He refused to disclose the size of the deal.

Full report here Times of India

Chetan Bhagat on his new book

Seven years ago an Indian investment banker penned a story of three friends at the Indian Institute of Technology, one of the country’s top schools. Soon after, the book became a best seller, hugely popular among India’s college crowd. Same thing happened a year later, when he published his second novel, this time on the life of call center employees .

The books were Five Point Someone (2004) and One Night @ the Call Center (2005). The former banker is Chetan Bhagat, an author credited with having helped extend the reach of literature to a broader audience in India. While some critics initially brushed off his success as mere fluke, his lasting popularity proved them wrong. Among the country’s teenagers and twenty-somethings, he is little short of a youth icon. Last year, he even made it in Time magazine’s list of “100 Most Influential People in the World.”

His books have gone on to become Bollywood hits, the most successful of which has been “3 Idiots,” a blockbuster inspired by his first novel starring Aamir Khan.

After tackling the sensitive topic of the Gujarat riots in The 3 Mistakes of My Life, (2008) and inter-communal marriages in his 2 States, Mr. Bhagat’s fifth book is set for release in October.

Full report here WSJ

Hitting the bull's eye

Chetan Bhagat seems like a guy you can hang out with. He's quick with a joke, is refreshingly honest, and has a sincerity that makes him hard to miss. Don't be fooled by his light-hearted banter, his casual choice of words; underneath this animated 37-year old, lies a revolutionary and a rebel who broke the rule of the publishing industry - a million copy sold was almost unheard of before him; and changed the game of Indian literature - he was a techie and an investment banker before he took to writing books. In his own words, he'll "never win a Man's Booker Prize," but he'll always be a loved by a million readers. He prophases change and seems driven enough to bring one himself. He's fearless and flamboyant all at once. Here's more on the high octane Q&A session at the India Today Mind Rocks Youth Summit 2011.

Chetan Bhagat is often known to be marketing-driven person, which leads to better sales of his novels. Do you agree?
I have always had a fondness for marketing as a profession and a discipline. In fact, India has a long way to go when it comes to marketing its products: say, tourism. But then again, it's not just about advertising, promotions, and the frills; it's most importantly about the product. It's that what you're selling. I don't have a marketing budget; I launch my book at a shopping mall. My marketing starts and ends with the book. My sales force is my readers.

Full report here India Today

IITians become storytelling novelists

Salman Rushdie, Arudhati Roy, Shobhaa Dey, Vikram Seth are a few names that became a widespread dawn of storytelling in Indian English. However, of late the Indian novels are liberated from the tight clutches of serious work as a crowd of ex-IITians and MBA students are catching up with the youth with their modern novels. Their novels are based on love blooming in college campus, friendship, heartbreak, sex, betrayal, coming of the age and more importantly the system today.

You can call it a "Chetan Bhagat effect" that turned many people towards fiction. The novels have a wider appeal as the youth easily relate to these stories. These writers have a huge fan following as they are easily connected via the social networking sites. Listed below are a few IITian and Management novelists who have had a great impact on young readers.

Full report here Silicon India

'Revolution 2020 not a political novel'

Chetan Bhagat`s columns on education and corruption inspired him to write `Revolution 2020`, but the author clarifies that the book is not a political novel and that there is no political agenda either. "It isn`t a political novel as such, and there is no political agenda either. However, when you look at politics in the broader sense in terms of making people think in a certain manner, then I am hoping Revolution 2020`will do that to a certain extent," said Bhagat. "It is inevitable that some of my thoughts about social issues will creep into my stories. However, I am very strict about not indulging in social messages too much. Set to hit stalls in October, the book is described by the author as "at its heart, a love story about individuals." Excerpts from the interview:

The title suggests of your new book Revolution 2020 has an epic quality to the tale. Is this your most epic book to date?
It is a somewhat grand title and at some level it represents the grand aspirations of one of the characters. However, it still is, at its heart, a love story about individuals. Yes, compared to my other books, it is somewhat larger in scope.

The novel`s theme suggests a triangular love tale against a socio-political backdrop. What has prompted you to try this format?
I became involved with national issues, especially when I started to write columns two years ago. Education and corruption became the two causes I wrote about the most in my opinion pieces. As I delved deeper into understanding India, I felt a revolution was inevitable. To explore that idea more, I had started writing Revolution 2020 two years ago...Quite amazingly, the book is coming out at a time when we have some early signs of a revolution in front of us.

Full interview here Zeenews

'Don't obsess about film adaptations'

It's showtime for Chetan Bhagat again as he gets ready with his fifth book, Revolution 2020: Love, Corruption, Ambition that will hit stands this October. The bestselling author talks to Subhash K Jha about the new book and his earlier works being turned into films.

Your new book is called Revolution 2020. The title suggests an epic quality to the tale. Is this your most 'epic' book to date?
It is a somewhat grand title, and at some level it represents the grand aspirations of one of the characters. However, it still is, at its heart, a love story about individuals. Yes, compared to my other books, it is somewhat larger in scope.

The novel's theme suggests a triangular love tale against a socio-political backdrop. What has prompted you to try this format?
I became involved with national issues, especially when I started to write columns two years ago.  Education and Corruption became the two causes I wrote about the most in my opinion pieces. As I delved deeper into understanding India, I felt a revolution was inevitable. To explore that idea more, I had started writing Revolution 2020 two years ago, even before the revolution in Egypt. Quite amazingly, the book is coming out at a time when we have some early signs of a revolution in front of us.

You are also a social thinker and columnist. How much of the socio-political upheavals outside influences your fiction?
It is inevitable that some of my thoughts about social issues will creep into my stories. However, I am very strict about not indulging in social messages too much. A story needs to be entertaining and be able to connect with the readers foremost. If a social thought can fit into that, I incorporate it.

Full interview here Rediff

Pop fiction is a great leveller

Whatever your stand on the Jan Lokpal Bill issue, the one heartening aspect of the 13-day circus has been a mass of people from different social strata coming together for one cause. We don’t see this happen often.

We are hyper-aware of how diverse India is. And this diversity is tricky business, in the cultural world especially. There is work created for the masses, like a Bollywood blockbuster or a Page 3-inspired newspaper supplement; and then, there are products we don’t expect will have a wide appeal. However, before Anna Hazare united the nation —  rather than a sliver of disgruntled intelligentsia — India had one great unifier: cheap pop fiction.

Chetan Bhagat’s first novel, Five Point Someone, has sold over 700,000 copies. Karan Bajaj’s debut novel Keep Off The Grass was a bestseller with sales of more than 500,000. Recently, The Secret of the Nagas by Amish is believed to have sold 70,000 copies within a few weeks of its release. All these authors have a few things in common. They are management students; critics rubbish their writing; their books are cheap; and given the sales figures, everyone except the critics (probably the same disgruntled lot who are appalled by Hazare) is buying their books.

Full article here Firstpost

Chetan Bhagat to promote Hong Kong

Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has announced a marketing association with novelist Chetan Bhagat to create a 360-degree campaign to showcase Hong Kong's appeal to Indian tourists, a senior official said today.

"We aim to connect with our local Indian consumers even more, by working with a local Indian personality with strong India-Hong Kong link. Through the 'personal touch' and first hand experience of Chetan Bhagat and his connection with Hong Kong, Indian viewers will be able to relate and appreciate Hong Kong through his eyes," HKTB Regional Director-South & Southeast Asia, Mr David Leung told reporters here.

An integrated marketing campaign spread across TV, print and digital media will showcase Hong Kong's highlights through a first-hand experience of Chetan Bhagat, who used to be an investment banker in Hong Kong for eleven years before he moved to Mumbai. His first three novels were written during his tenure as an investment banker in Hong Kong, according to an official release.

The campaign, anchored by Chetan Bhagat, will kickstart with an exciting half-hour programme on television where he will be shown taking viewers around Hong Kong showcasing his favourite spots during his stay and also discovering new attractions in the city. "Hong Kong is very inspiring for me as a writer. It was real fun to relive some great moments in this dynamic city offering both traditional Chinese culture and spectacular colonial heritage. We have been able to capture diverse moods and melodies of Hong Kong," Chetan Bhagat said. The highlights of the campaign would include Bhagat's trip to Sky 100, Ocean Park Hong Kong, NP360, Po Lin Monastery, Wisdom Path, Lamma Island, Victoria Peak, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, as well as Discovery Bay. This will also be supplemented by advertorials in print and online promotions, an official release said.

Full report here IBNLive

'My books are like SRK's movies'

Says Chetan Bhagat, whose next book, Revolution 2020, hits book stands this October. The author speaks on corruption, coming of age as a writer and his detractors even as he lends his support to Anna Hazare at the Ramleela Maidan in New Delhi

Your next, Revolution 2020, is particularly relevant in Anna Hazare's India. What prompted you to write it?
I started writing it two years ago, well before Anna Hazare happened. The rebellious nature of young people is something I have explored even in my earlier books. Revolution is inevitable. I am lucky that I will release the book in the middle of a revolution.

My premonition, about a major public uprise in India, came true. When I travel for my talks, I see a lot of resentment among the youth. The government is disconnected in terms of providing them a good college or a job.The book deals with corruption in the education sector. It's set in present day India and the revolution, that will change the system, will come in 2020.

You have set it in Varanasi, in small town India. Why?
I feel the voices in small town India are not heard enough. I can bring their stories alive in an interesting manner. If you switch on the tv, whatever happens in the metros is given attention. Besides, seventy per cent of my readers are in small town India.

Full interview here Mid-day

Chetan Bhagat's Revolution 2020 becomes the fastest selling book online

Revolution 2020 is one of the most awaited books in recent times. Announced a couple of days ago, it has created ripples and is raring to go. Readers are eagerly awaiting the launch and online portals are gearing up with pre-order and freebies.

The launch date for Revolution 2020 by bestselling author Chetan Bhagat is finally out. Yes, the much awaited book will be launched in October. Sprucing up for a Diwali launch, it is much anticipated in the readers' circles. Revolution 2020 is set in small-town India and revolves around three friends. Gopal and Raghav are in pursuit of success but with different goals. They are in love with the same girl. Will Varanasi prove lucky for them? Ever since the new book was announced, Indian readers have shown an overwhelming response, proven by the way they have taken to online pre-order options.

Similar response was last seen for Amish Tripathi's The Secret of The Nagas. Online portals were abreast with contests, freebies and author signed memorabilia. Some even had ongoing contests where participants could get lucky and meet the author himself. Amish Tripathi, Rashmi Bansal and Chetan Bhagat are amongst the new age writers. They have changed the way an Indian reader looks at a bookshelf dedicated to Indian authors. New age readership has truly arrived and India is lapping up the literary boom like never before.

Adding to the euphoria surrounding the October launch is the pre-order option. Online marts like Infibeam and Flipkarthave started taking pre-orders with much gusto. According to sources, Infibeam offered a whopping discount in the first 24h and recorded over 3000 pre-orders, so much so that, it has become the fastest selling book on Infibeam and others. The sales figures are likely to touch over tens of thousands across portals.

Full report here SBWire

Chetan Bhagat on his fifth novel

With a tagline that reads – Love. Corruption. Ambition, you would assume that Chetan Bhagat was swayed by the current revolution that has gripped the country.

But author of 2 States and Five Point Someone clarifies that his new book, Revolution 2020, is “foremost a love story, in fact a love triangle, as both Gopal and Raghav love the same girl (Aarti). Corruption, particularly in the education sector, is the backdrop of the story.”

Bhagat’s stint as a motivational speaker, which really came about by accident, took him on travels across the country. His interactions with young people from over 50 cities that he visited inspired him to work on a story about them.

Thus came about a story about three young people from Varanasi. Bhagat explores their aspirations and ambitions and how far they’re willing to go to get what they want.

But Bhagat promises that, in keeping with his style, the story will appeal to most anyone.

Full report here Hindustan Times

Snakes on a plain

A new pulp phenomenon tells a great story, but is derailed by corporate-speak and sloppy editing

There are probably years to go before an Indian book series achieves the level of devotion (or the sales) of the Harry Potter series. We do not have costumed fans thronging book stores for midnight readings (which the Shops and Establishments Act would make impossible anyway), or websites dedicated to picking apart plot points and sneaky hints.

But the last month has shown that we’re capable of getting there, with the explosion of interest in The Secret of the Nagas, the second book in Amish’s Shiva Trilogy. The Shiva Trilogy brings two new things to Indian books. Commercially, it brought its publishers blockbuster sales in a new segment. Chetan Bhagat’s raging sales have been helped in large part by Rupa and Co. pricing his books at Rs.95, a tactic quickly adopted by other mass-market publishers such as Srishti. The Secret of the Nagas, though, is retailing at Rs. 295 (the first book, The Immortals of Meluha, which has sold more than 125,000 copies, is published in two editions, for Rs. 195 and Rs. 295).

Full report here Mint

Pseudo-agents take advantage of aspiring authors

Blame Chetan Bhagat. After his debut novel Five Point Someone became a massive hit in 2004, English-educated Indians were instilled with the hope that they, too, could become overnight sensations. Since then, more a hundred such authors have gone on to publish their debut novels, taking their life experience as their subject. Many of these books have been resounding commercial successes, inspiring thousands more imitators.

While all this is good news for aspiring authors, publishers, readers and booksellers, this publishing boom has had one negative side-effect: the sudden proliferation of shady literary agents in India.

In the West, most writers engage literary agents to represent their works and assist in the negotiation and sale of their book to publishers. However legitimate literary agents are still relatively rare in India — over 90% of the authors submit their manuscripts directly to the publishers — and the concept of “representation” is itself relatively new.

Full report here Publishing Perspectives

For Old Times’ Sake

Some years ago, Chetan Bhagat did the unthinkable: he made young and restless Indians read his tales of urban India in conversational English. Soon, Indians were craving for stories of the country by home-grown authors. This need is now being met by writers who are giving Indian history and mythology a contemporary twist. The result has been rewarding — Ashwin Sanghi’s Chanakya’s Chant, Anish Sarkar’s Benaami, and The Immortals of Meluha by Amish rule the bestseller lists.

Though authors such as Devdutt Pattanaik, Ashok Banker and William Dalrymple have retold stories from Indian mythology and history, the trend of using these for commercial fiction seems to be a recent one. Sanghi believes that these stories establish an immediate connection with the readers and make for gripping backdrops. “The initial hook for a commercial fiction paperback in this genre must necessarily come from the ancient. Once the reader is hooked, then it does not matter if the story is history-oriented or not,” he says.

Full report here Indian Express

Chetan Bhagat ready with book V

Readers still can't get over his Five Point Someone, One Night at the Call Centre, Two States or The Three Mistakes Of My Life.

Filmmakers are busy to turn his creations on celluloid. Such is the magic of Chetan Bhagat. No sooner is he done with one book, queries start pouring in about his next. And the latest from Chetan's stable is that he is all set to release his Book V. The author, tweeted on Monday, "Brought forward new book release. Will release Book V on Oct 8, 2011. Exactly 2 months to go. Details soon. Excited."

No sooner had the author uploaded the tweet that congratulatory messages started pouring in. Among the early birds Shirish Kunder tweeted; "Looking forward Chetan... All the Best!" It's time for the reader to go on a trip once again.

Full report here Times of India

Inaugural South Asian Literary Festival line-up announced

Bestselling Indian author Chetan Bhagat, Fatima Bhutto and Hardeep Singh Kohli are among the authors set to take part in the inaugural DSC South Asian Literature Festival.

Announced on 22nd September, more than 30 events are confirmed for the festival which will take place across the capital in venues including King's Place, the Free Word Centre, the British Library, British Museum and bookshops from 15-25th October and then at cities around the UK from 26th-31st October.

At the launch, the longlist for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature was also announced, with 16 titles in the running from publishers including Picador India, Faber, Bloomsbury and Constable & Robinson.
Co-directors Jon Slack and Bhavit Mehta of Amphora Arts said of the festival: "The thriving literary and publishing scene in South Asia was the impetus for us bringing a literary festival devoted to South Asian writing to the UK."

Full report here Bookseller

Shake off your linguistic shackles, save Hindi

Hindi, our mother tongue and our national language, is dying a slow death. It is losing its importance in fast-changing modern India. It is getting limited to speaking and verbal communication. Today, people prefer reading English newspapers, watching news in English and reading more of English literature than Hindi.

Hindi can be made more popular and given its due importance, but the initiative has to be taken by us. We, perhaps, have forgotten that India is the land that has produced great Hindi novelists and poets like Munshi Premchand, Mahadevi Verma, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, and many more, but today’s generation has forgotten these names and is deviating towards Western authors like Stephanie Meyer, PG Wodehouse, Eric Segal, etc.

Students should be encouraged in schools to read Hindi literature. Hindi should be made a compulsory subject up to class XII. Students can be provided with Hindi newspapers about once a week. To make Hindi popular, novels read by the youth – such as those by Chetan Bhagat – can be translated in Hindi to make the language more popular.

Full report here Indian Express

Book makers

Publisher Rupa & Co completes 75 years of cracking the mass-market formula

At a busy Big Bazaar in Gurgaon, recently, there was more than the usual clanging of shopping trolleys. In one young man’s purchases, you could see toothpaste, a ketchup bottle and, right on top of it all, a copy of Chetan Bhagat’s The 3 Mistakes of My Life and Kishore Biyani’s It Happened In India . Kapish Mehra, Managing Director of Rupa & Co, smiles as he narrates this incident, which comes as no surprise to the publishing house which has an alliterative tagline: “Reach, Range and Reading pleasure”.

As it celebrates 75 years of publishing books, Rupa also has an enviable mass market appeal. “Books now are an impulse buy. We have titles in fiction, non-fiction, biographies, self-help, sports, religion and business management, and these are at a price that people are comfortable with. You have to be happy to pick up a book, and that works for us,” says Mehra, of the company’s pricing mantra for the last seven-and-a-half decades.

The story of Rupa has a humble beginning — Mehra’s late grandfather Daudayal Mehra started the business in 1936 by publishing two volumes of Bengali poetry and Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha. Today, of course, with a Chetan Bhagat Five Point Someone available across the globe, the publishing house has some of the highest figures in the Indian publishing industry.

Full report here Indian Express

‘Commit mistakes and think beyond the obvious’

The essence of education lies in letting a kid commit a mistake and making him think out of the box, and not in scoring high marks or securing rank, said popular Indian author Chetan Bhagat, who is known for his famous book Five Point Someone.

He was talking at an interactive session on Friday on ‘Education system in India’ organised by Essence, a Chennai-based organisation working for empowerment of women.

“Despite the efforts of our policymakers reform the current education system, we could still see our society following a conventional system of education,” said Bhagat. Adding to it,he said the reforms in education would take at least 30-40 years.

Full report here New Indian Express