27 September,2009 11:13 AM IST | | Janaki Viswanathan
Chetan Bhagat on his fourth book, Two States: The Story of My Marriage, and being a house husband
About a Punjabi marrying a Tamilian, Two States: The Story of My Marriage sounds quite close to real-life. How did your family react?
It is inspired from my own life. My wife Anusha did raise her eyebrows a couple of times while reading it, but she loved it. My parents will be cool. I wonder what my in-laws will think.u00a0
An excerpt talks of the hero visiting a psychotherapist and breaking down. Have you ever been to one?
I have, to research my books. You get a greater understanding of characters when you meet a psychotherapist and I've heard that my books do influence people's thinking a whole lot. I have kids writing to me saying it's cool to perform badly in exams after reading Five Point Someone. It's scary. I hope Two States influences people to marry interstate.
Speaking of influence, what's your take on the 'buy back' phenomenon in which authors reportedly buy several of their own books to declare them bestsellers?
I couldn't afford it! Imagine if I were to make my book look like a bestseller, I'd have to buy at least 50 per cent of the copies. That's roughly 5 lakh books, which would cost a few crore, weigh like 200 tonnes, maybe fill 20 truckloads. How is it even possible? And if I were so vain, I'd rather advertise, which I don't, because we can't afford it.
Okay, moving on, it looks as if you've switched back to fun and fluff after The Three Mistakes of My Life?
I had to lighten up. Three Mistakes became a little too intense with the Godhra riots as background and I realised that my readers preferred the tongue-in-cheek humour and irreverence which they'd seen in Five Point Someone and One Night @ The Call Center. Marriage is something everyone can relate to; in fact it's something every Indian is obsessed with. I also wanted to make my books pan-Indian. So there are no friends here, it's just a love story with two sets of parents. It's less filmi.
Do you tend to write what readers want as opposed to what you want to write?
I wouldn't put it like that. I know that if I were to pen a sequel to Five Point Someone, it will be a guaranteed hit, but I can't bring myself to revisit Alok, Hari and Ryan.
But you do write simplistically on purpose?
Sometimes, yes. See, I don't want someone (and he could be a Hindi medium student in Jhansi) to reach out for a dictionary while reading my book. It's meant to be enjoyed. So yes, I do stick to simple language. I know it comes under a lot of criticism but the truth is, I'm not a perfectionist. If it's perfect, it's not real. My books have that uncut feel and I like that. I'm more about impact than aesthetics.
3 Idiots, which is loosely based on Five Point Someone, stars Aamir Khan... doesn't he look a little old to play an IIM student?u00a0
What to do? It's the nature of the industry. Filmmaking is all about what's possible. But no matter what you say, 3 Idiots is one of the most eagerly anticipated films this year. Anyway, I've never been attached to any of my works. Once the director comes on board, it's his baby. I have to let go.
You're home these days, how do you like playing house husband?
I love it. I drop my kids off at school, I pick them up, I'm the only father who goes to the school every day. The other mums think I'm this amazing guy. Isn't that weird? When a woman cooks for her family, picks and drops her kids at school, no one ever tells her how amazing she is. Anyway, so yeah, it's great but there some downsides. I don't have 'colleagues'. And I do receive criticism for "living off my wife".
I know my mum-in-law doesn't appreciate that while Anusha's rushing off to work in the morning, I'm still in my pajamas.
Two States: The Story of My Marriage releases on October 10
