Overview
- Chetan Bhagat responded to criticism of 12 Years: My Messed-Up Love Story by rejecting claims that it represents a male fantasy.
- He said online trolling targets him and his books even before release and called assumptions about his perspective stereotyping.
- Bhagat explained that he deliberately uses simple language to connect with a broad, common readership.
- He reported that Gulzar routinely messages him about his work and once told his mother, “I wish I could write like your son,” attributing the compliment to his own account.
- He noted that he now mostly lives in Dubai and prefers the lower profile there, and his novels have previously been adapted into major Bollywood films like 3 Idiots, Kai Po Che!, 2 States and Half Girlfriend.