Chetan Bhagat walks in a woman’s shoes

Author Chetan Bhagat is set to capture the imagination of his readers with One Indian Girl — a first for him, as he writes from the perspective of a woman

Chetan Bhagat has come back with another fiction story. This time, it’s different, claims the author. One Indian Girl, Chetan’s latest, is from the perspective of a woman. He speaks to us about delving into a woman’s mind, getting waxed for research and Kangana Ranaut’s desire to act in the movie.

“I always try to write on social issues and I’ve been writing for over twelve years now, with this being my seventh. I wanted to challenge myself. Since I have many women readers, I decided to write from her perspective,” says Chetan about One Indian Girl. He adds that although the task was daunting, it was a great learning experience. “It was very difficult to portray the internal dialogues and thought process of a woman in a convincing manner. I wanted to make it relevant and learnt a lot in the process. Every woman is different but most women think something and say something else. I also realised that women are asked to make choices all their lives that men aren’t. They have to choose between a career and home, which guys don’t have to. I’ve always been a feminist but writing this gave me a better understanding of a woman’s life.”

He goes on to talk about Radhika, the lead of his novel. “I’ve tried my best not to stereotype in this book. Radhika is an extremely successful investment banker, who earns a lot. Her mother is concerned that she won’t be able to find her a groom and that her boyfriends too, have not been very happy about it.”

Amidst the fan’s reviews and excitement, the story of how Chetan got waxed in the name of research for his latest, has been doing the rounds on the Internet too. “I did a lot of different research for the book, but somehow, the waxing bit became popular. I got waxed because there is a scene in the book where my lead gets waxed and I felt that I wouldn’t be doing justice if I didn’t know what the process felt like. It was painful, to say the least! The pressure to be hairless, and the criticism they get for not going through this is absurd.”

So, does he write his books keeping a screenplay for the eventual movie adaptation in mind “Not at all,” he claims, “that is definitely not my process. If my focus was movies, I would write a boy-girl romance, but this is a pure girl-based book. I don’t have plans for the movie at the moment. I want the story to be accepted first.”

If it does come to that however, Chetan has an actor in mind. “Kangana gave me a very good feedback for the book — this was the first time she’d read a romantic feminist book. If an actor like her wishes to essay the role of Radhika, it would be great,” concludes Chetan.