The 3 mistakes of my life

Chetan Bhagat the biggest-selling English-language novelist in India's history is back with his new book 'The 3 mistakes of my life"-based on real events, from the bestselling author of "Five Point Someone" and "One Night @ the call centre", comes another dark, witty tale about modern India..The book was released in May 2008.

On a saturday morning, an author in singapore received an email. It started like this.

'Dear sir, This email is a combined suicide note and a confession letter.'

This mail came from a boy in Ahmedabad.

He said he had made some mistakes in his life and could not find a reason to live.

He said he was popping a sleeping pill every time he finished typing a sentence.

The mail had nineteen full stops.

The 3 mistakes of my life-A story about business . cricket . religion


Synopsis

In late-2000, a young boy in Ahmedabad called Govind dreamt of having a business. To accomodate his friends Ish and Omi's passion, they open a cricket shop. Govind's wants to make money and thinks big. Ish is all about nurturing Ali, the batsman with a rare gift. Omi knows his limited capabiltiies and just wants to be with his friends. However, nothing comes easy in a turbulent city. To realize their goals, they will have to face it all - religious politics, earthquakes, riots, unacceptable love and above all, their own mistakes. Will they make it? Can an individual's dreams overcome the nightmares offered by real life? Can we succeed despite a few mistakes?

Q & A with Chetan

What is ‘3’ about?
3 is short for the ‘The Three mistakes of my life’. It is a story about three boys who start a business in Ahmedabad. The main protagonist Govind makes three mistakes in his life. I really don’t want to reveal more, though I have provided an excerpt.

Why is it called 3?
There are so many links to the number 3 that it became the obvious choice for the name. Apart from the story being of three boys and the protagonist making three mistakes, the book has three main themes - business, cricket and religion. What’s also fascinating is that the number 3 resembles ‘Om’, representing religion and when written in roman numerals resembles a set of cricket wickets, tying in with the theme of the book.

And of course, it is my third book.

The IITs first, then call centers, what is it this time?
This time it is business. I found the spirit of entrepreneurship in Gujarat fascinating and thought the country should know about it.
However, I’ve written a more universal story this time and not targeted one particular set of people. My audience is pan-Indian now, and I wanted to write a story that is relatable to all.

What style is the book written in?
It is written in the style that comes naturally to me, which is in a light hearted manner with some dark themes in the background. I can’t write any other way.

So even though we have business, cricket and religion – there is other stuff, romance for instance?
Yes absolutely. The book is a lot of fun and the love story this time is easily the best one of my three books. I’d love to share more but I don’t want to take away the fun of reading the book.

How are the films based on the books coming along? What is your involvement with these films and Bollywood in general?

My involvement in Bollywood is related to writing projects, mostly related to the adaptations of my books or select, exciting straight-to-script projects.

I am currently involved with four films:

i) ‘Idiots’, starring Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor will go on the floors in June 2008. Inspired by ‘Five Point Someone’, this will be directed and scripted by Rajkumar Hirani who has also added his own take on the story.

ii) ‘Hello’, starring Salman Khan, Sharman Joshi, Katrina Kaif, Gul Panag and others is in post production. Directed by Atul Agnihotri, the film is based on ‘One night @ the call center’ and will release in June 2008. I’ve done the screenplay and dialogues for this film.

iii) There are some talks on for the film adaptation of ‘3’, though I haven’t finalized anything yet. More details will come in the following months.

Five point someone-what not to do at IIT-know more about this book here

One night @ call centre-know more about this book here

For Chetan Bhagat's Official site click here