Matthew Schneeberger
Four books in six years. I've written too many books too fast," says author Chetan Bhagat, whose 2 States: The Story of My Marriage, released last month. "I'm going to move into screenplays now. That's where the demand is."
Like his first three novels, 2 States focuses on the Young India that Bhagat knows best: highly ambitious university students, the drab existence of entry-level employees and scandalous inter-community love affairs.
Krish, a Punjabi boy, and Ananya, a Tamil Brahmin, are IIM-A classmates who fall in love, despite their respective families' protestations. The book charts their rocky road to marriage, while simultaneously exploring a wider theme about Modern India coming together and overcoming its many internal and self-inflicted divisions.
But, more so than his first three efforts, 2 States is semi-autobiographical, and is modelled on the story of Bhagat's own marriage.
Here, in a three-part video interview, Bhagat discusses a wide range of topics: his new book, the young generation, literature and cinema in India and a possible future for himself in politics.
Videos: Matthew Schneeberger
'There is a modern patriotism that exists in India'
Bhagat, who recently quit his high-paying job as an investment banker to fully concentrate on writing, says that making a living in his chosen field is difficult.
"We're just not a nation that reads enough," he laments.
But he's encouraged at the positive response young, urban India has given his books thus far. The literature scene, he says, "is changing."
As for why his books captured the youth's attention, over the work of so many other Indian authors writing in English, Bhagat chalks it up to "good fortune". He's just grateful to have a platform, he adds, and hopes to create positive, constructive thoughts and actions through his work.
'I am in politics already!'
In the past, Bhagat has consistently drawn the ire of critics, while at the same time winning over audiences, to become one of India's very top selling authors in English.
It's a strange duality -- the derision and scorn of 'experts' and the adulation of fans -- that Bhagat feels every time he puts pen to paper.
This time, however, he says reviews have been more positive, partially because he employed a whole platoon of editors to clean up his copy.
Here, Bhagat discusses the literary scene in India, and also his own possible entry into politics.
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