IITian on achievers' A-list

NEW DELHI: Chetan Bhagat was awarded the prestigious Society Young Achiever's award in literature for his debut novel Five Point Someone: What not to do at IIT. This adds formal critical recognition to the already hugely successful novel. The novel was released just over six months ago, and continues to rule near the top of the bestseller list for the last 30 weeks, competing with world bestsellers like Da Vinci Code.The novel is already in its eighth edition, and has sold close to 1,00,000 copies - a record number for any Indian novel in such a time-frame. "We are already selling 2,000 copies a week since the release. That is one copy sold every five minutes", said Kapish Mehra of Rupa and Co, the publishers of the novel. Five Point Someone is a light-hearted tale of three boys in IIT who are not doing well, and have low "five-pointer" grades. The novel, cited as "absolutely unputdownable" by readers manages to make the reader smile at every page, while at the same time keeping a strong emotional intensity. Readers claim that once they start reading the novel, they can't stop - and the flood of college memories it opens up is too intense an experience. "I am absolutely thrilled at the award", said Chetan, "and the only reason I have got it is because my readers went and bought the book, and recommended it to others. They made it happen. I hope I can nurture this trust and love from my readers forever. May God give me the strength to write more good stories." Coming up soon also will be the film version of the book. Director Ritesh Sinha of Ten Films bought the film rights in June 2004 and has been busy doing groundwork for what he believes will be a path breaking movie. "It is an amazing story with a powerful message, and all the makings of a cult classic," said Ritesh. While Chetan sinks in the accolades, he is already thinking up options for his next work. "Read Five Point Someone for now, and then wait for my next. It will be hard to meet expectations set by FPS, but that challenge is the fun part. I know that whatever the theme, I will want to write something that makes people laugh, as well as helps make the world a better place."