He turned his campus love stories into bestselling books, and had Bolly stars — Aamir Khan-Kareena Kapoor to Arjun Kapoor-Alia Bhatt — recreating the romance on screen. t2 got Chetan Bhagat to do, in his words, “a full-on Valentine’s Day interview, my God!” 

The love story forms the heart of all your novels, though they deal with a wide range of topics. Why so?

Because I write about real people. I write about normal people. I don’t have fantasy or crime or mystery or even a mythological plot to keep it going, so I think what keeps my books going is the love story angle. I think love stories are universal, readers can connect to it. And love can exist in any setting, so I can choose almost any setting or issue and a love story can be put in it. 

Boys studying engineering always rue that they don’t have enough girl students to have a campus romance. You clearly bucked that trend...

I know what it is to beat competition (laughs). I always know that when there is a supply issue, then you have to act fast (laughs some more). Although, I must say, today these problems are not there. We didn’t have smartphones and Internet and apps and WhatsApp to get in touch with more people. We didn’t even have a phone! We had to go to a public telephone and make a call. So if there were no girls in college, it meant there were no girls in your life. But now I think you can meet people even online, and at least try to develop a friendship. So I think that excuse that there are no girls in college has lost its meaning somewhat because I think you can always reach out and connect with other people… 

Do you think campus romances have changed since you were in college?

They have changed. We have a millennial generation now, and like I said, the big thing is technology. Even in my books, for example, WhatsApp played a big role in One Indian Girl… but it was non-existent in the first 
two-three books. Maximum there were a couple of SMSes here and there. But today people are using technology to, I guess, skip a lot of courtship and just filtering people, who they want to be with... and keeping their options open or keeping back-ups in love. I think that has changed and it’s very interesting how that’s playing out. 

Are you a romantic person in real life?

I used to be a lot more romantic but now I am so into my work that I don’t get time to be so romantic. But fundamentally, yes, I think I am a romantic person. You can’t write love stories unless you have some romance in you, and some belief in it. 

It’s often said romance flies out of the window when a couple get married. Is there anything you do to keep the romance alive, given your busy work life?

(Thinks) You know, ‘flies out of the window’ still sounds romantic (laughs). I think whether you get married or whether you’ve been in a relationship for a long time — maybe marriage accelerates the process — I think it has been scientifically documented that the passionately, truly, deeply, madly love phase doesn’t last more than one to two years. The excitement of a new relationship almost gives a drug-like high. There’s no denying that it feels great… there is a state when every message from your partner lights you up, you can’t wait to see them…. Sadly, it doesn’t last. And some people take a long time to figure that out, that it doesn’t last. So, they keep looking for that new relationship excitement… when it doesn’t come, they feel, okay, let’s change the relationship. And in the millennial generation, that seems to be happening a lot more. Because they’re like, why should we ever let this new relationship excitement go?! But if you are in a relationship for a long time, it will go away. 

What comes in turn is a companionship, a true companionship, which is also a very important need in humans. In fact, it’s less drug-like, it’s a little more sedate, it’s more long-lasting and I think that can be used to be the best version of yourself, make your goals in life… it’s another form of love. It’s not as dramatic, it won’t maybe make for great stories or great cinema, because it’s just, you know, buying vegetables together and making sure the bills are paid on time every month. But it’s what real life is and I think that’s the choice eventually people have to make — that do they want to keep going to the party of new relationship excitement, or they just want to have a quiet night at home. 

What does Valentine’s Day mean to you?

To be frank, I find it a little cheesy. Even if it was not cheesy, the brands have made it cheesy. A boy and a girl who are just friends, they can’t walk in a mall that day (laughs)! Because there will be some people coming and giving balloons, some giving flowers… it’s like the world expects you to feel romantic that day. And I think feeling romantic comes from within. It cannot be triggered on a date or using a certain stimulus and definitely not when it’s being done at a mass level... like today let’s all feel romantic (laughs)! I find there’s also unnecessary pressure on the guys, and a lot of pressure on the girls — what did your Valentine do for you?  

I always feel it’s better to surprise your girl out of the blue, on a random April 17 or a June 15 than on Feb 14. You’ll get more brownie points for it (chuckles). 

Message for single people on Valentine’s Day

Well, look at the mirror and wish yourself (grins). I think being single is an important part of life, a very valuable part of life, because that’s when you can really focus on yourself, on your goals, and on what kind of person you want in your life. So, instead of feeling depressed... ‘oh, I don’t have a Valentine’... you should feel, ‘hey, I still haven’t unwrapped my present, while all the others… this is what they have to put up with. For me the surprise is yet to be unfolded, and it will be, over time.’ 

CHETAN’S ADVICE TO YOUNG LOVERS

• Don’t make out in public. 
• Make your relationship about knowing each other. 
• Make every day count. Don’t wait for a February 14 so much. 
• Avoid cliches, like giant teddy bears, heart-shaped balloons, flowers... they’ve been done to death. Come up with something new! 
 

Samhita Chakraborty
What do you prefer — the excitement of new love, or true companionship like Chetan Bhagat? Tell t2@abp.in

His readers are not only fans of the love stories he writes, they are hooked to his real-life love story (with wife Avantika) on social media too. Durjoy Datta, the 29-year-old bestselling author who will soon become a dad, talks some more love and romance with t2...

Why did you start writing romance novels?

(Smiles and flashes those dimples) I wasn’t told that I was writing romance novels. When I started, I just wrote a story about how life was for me and for people around me. And the book worked and they had to slot it somewhere. So, after I think the second or the third book, they started telling me that the section that we are putting you in is romance. I’ve not grown up reading romance novels. I only knew that it existed somewhere, but I never picked up a book consciously thinking that I’m going to read romance. So, it was slightly strange for me and I haven’t really owned up to the fact that okay, this is romance! For me, in my head, I don’t know what romance is. 

Really? Durjoy Datta doesn’t know what romance is?!

(Laughs heartily) In terms of books, in terms of books. I have read a couple of Nicholas Sparks books, I know that that is definitely romance. So ya, it was a surprise to me that my books are ‘romance’ but then I realised why it is romance… because the backbone of the book is a love story. 

You started writing in 2007-08. Has the essence of romance changed for young India in these 10 years?

Not so much, I think. The only reason that I was writing those books was because the kind of love that I saw around me was very different from the kind of romance that I had grown up living with. My idea of romance was Bollywood movies, where a love story was supposed to last forever, and my first book was Of Course I Love You..! Till I Find Someone Better. So, I have gone the opposite way, where my first few books in 2008, 2009, 2010 were about cynical love. And it was only later that I wrote books like If It’s Not Forever, It’s Not Love. 
Coming to your question on if there’s a difference, when I was growing up, relationships probably lasted a little longer, though at that point of time I was writing relationships that do not last the distance! When I was growing up, I strongly felt about relationships that do not last long, I was very cynical, I was like you might be in love today, you might not be in love tomorrow. But now I am like if you are in love today, there is a high chance that you will be in love tomorrow as well (smiles).

Are you a romantic person in real life?

I always say, romance and courage are two different things. I am very romantic in my head, but being courageous is a very different thing. You can be as romantic as you can be in your head but unless you can put that into action, it doesn’t matter. I’ve always had romantic notions in my head but I haven’t had the courage to turn them into action. 

Well, you proposed to your wife, Avantika, on Twitter! That was surely an act of ‘courage’. 

No, a courageous guy would have gone down on his knee in a crowded place, say in a restaurant, and done it. I cannot do that (laughs)! And it wasn’t even the fear of rejection because she had already accepted and we were getting married. Just the fact that 20 people will be looking at me while I do that sort of thing scared me. So I decided to do it on Twitter, because no one’s looking, you are shielded behind your screen. 

Some say romance flies out of the window when a couple get married. Is there anything you do to keep the romance alive?
I don’t think so. Yes, romance can fly out of the window after a little bit of time. But we had been together for a really long time (five years), so getting married was just another step forward. It was a huge party, then we got back to our usual lives. 
We don’t do anything special, but every time we go out it’s a date night. And we go out a lot. 

What does Valentine’s Day mean to you?

It’s a lot of pressure, I think (laughs out loud)! More than anything else, it’s a lot of pressure to do something special! 

So, are you doing anything special?

What’s really convenient for me is that my birthday is on February 7, a week before Valentine’s Day. So I gauge, what did Avantika do for my birthday… if she did ‘X’, I have to do something that matches ‘X’. Also, I’ve never had the pressure to make Valentine’s Day special. I’ve done only very cliched stuff on Valentine’s Day, like giving gifts, choosing a place to go out to. Luckily for me, Avantika holds birthdays and anniversary in very high regard, not so much Valentine’s Day. Also because February 7 is my birthday and March 1 is our anniversary, February 14 is just like any other day. 

Samhita Chakraborty
Is Valentine’s Day just any other day for you, like Durjoy Datta? Tell t2@abp.in