"Hello is as important to me as my wedding day"- Chetan Bhagat

By: Nikhil Ramsubramaniam

Multi-faceted and incredibly talented are words that best describe Chetan Bhagat. An alumnus of the prestigious IIT-Delhi and IIM-A, Chetan slowly and steadily grew up the corporate ladder to become a successful investment banker. However, he came into the limelight as the author of the international best-seller Five Point Someone followed by another best-seller One Night @ the Call Centre. The latter became so popular that there were many offers to adapt it into a motion picture. Finally, Chetan received an offer (which he couldn't refuse) from actor-director Atul Agnihotri who wanted to make One Night @ the Call Centre into a film and this was how Hello came up. With Hello set to hit the screens this week, Chetan opens up to us in this exclusive interview and talks about his first cinematic experience as the story/screenplay writer of Hello,his bonding with the 'Khan-daan' and how he manages to juggle his time between investment banking, writing bestsellers and scripting Bollywood flicks. You simply don't wanna miss this one!!!

After being a successful investment banker, and a well known writer of 3 international best selling books you are now entering the big bad world of Bollywood as the story / screenplay writer of Hello. How does it feel?
It feels great, of course. Especially with Bollywood, I am now getting such a big platform to tell my stories in Hindi. I don't think you can call yourself an Indian writer if you are not reaching the Hindi speaking audiences. I feel like I am destiny's child. I have always got more than I deserve - whether it is my reader's love or movies being made out of my books. And I believe these gifts are being given to me so I can do something greater for my country - whether inspire a generation or make India a better place.

How did 'Bollywood Calling' happen? Was it something which was always at the back of your mind or was it all of a sudden and completely unplanned?
When my first book came out and became popular, I started getting some enquires from Bollywood. I have always been a big Hindi movie fan, and there is a desire in me to touch as many Indians as possible in my lifetime. So what better way than Bollywood!!!

Hello which releases this week is based on your best seller One Night @ the Call Centre. Could you brief us a little on what the film is about for the benefit of all those who have not yet read the book?
Quite simply, as the book's title says - it is the story of one night about six people who work in a call center. The night is special because they get a phone call from God.

How similar is the film to the original book?
It is quite similar as I only wrote the script and Atul was clear he wanted to make the book. He said, "I've loved the book as it was fun to read and it made me more self-confident after I read it. I want the same effect with the film". There are some changes that had to be made due to the requirements of cinema - but they don't really take away much from the book. Continued...