‘Half Girlfriend’ is the big release this week and one of the biggest factors driving the film is Chetan Bhagat. Movies based on his novels have performed very well at the box office.
His only failure was the 2008 film ‘Hello’ which was based on his novel ‘One Night @ the Call Centre’. The film didn’t do well at the box office.
The ‘3 Idiots’ controversy aside, Bhagat was officially credited for the Rajkumar Hirani blockbuster, which was based on his novel ‘5 Point Someone’.
Then came ‘Koi Po Che’, an adaptation of his novel ‘The 3 Mistakes of My Life’. The niche film targeted mainly at the multiplex audience, marked the acting debut of Sushant Singh Rajput. It received critical acclaim and did fairly well at the box office too.
‘2 States’ is arguably the most popular Chetan Bhagat novel and its film adaptation garnered tremendous interest. Everyone from Shah Rukh Khan to Imran Khan were rumoured to play the role that eventually went to Arjun Kapoor. Alia Bhatt played the female lead in the film that was backed by major banners like Dharma Productions, Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment and UTV Motion Pictures.
The audience came in big numbers on the opening day (holiday) and the film ended with lifetime collections of more than 100 crore.
Soon after the release of ‘2 States’ came the 2014 Salman Khan blockbuster ‘Kick’. The film was a remake of the Telugu movie with the same title, but the screenplay was adapted to Hindi by Bhagat, Rajat Arora, Keith Gomes and Sajid Nadiadwala. ‘Kick’ wasn’t sold on Bhagat’s name, but it did add value and got plenty of media coverage too.
3 years after the success of ‘2 States’, the writer-actor duo of Chetan and Arjun return with ‘Half Girlfriend’. Shraddha Kapoor plays the female lead and Mohit Suri of ‘Aashiqui 2’ and ‘Ek Villain’ fame directs.
Will Chetan Bhagat continue his winning streak with the adaptation of yet another popular novel ‘Half Girlfriend’? Will it give the industry only its third major success this year after ‘Jolly LLB 2’ and ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’?
Chetan Bhagat’s Filmography below:
(Note: ‘Five Point Someone’ was also adapted into a Tamil film ‘Nanban’ directed by Shankar)
| Movie | Credit | Novel | Collections | Verdict |
| Hello (2008) | Story | One Night @ the Call Center | 12.25 cr | Below Average |
| 3 Idiots (2009) | Story | Five Point Someone | 202 cr | AT Blockbuster |
| Kai Po Che (2013) | Story, Screenplay | The 3 Mistakes of My Life | 45 cr | Hit |
| 2 States (2014) | Story, Screenplay | 2 States | 102 cr | Super Hit |
| Kick (2014) | Screenplay | None | 233 cr | Blockbuster |
Loved all films of Chethan Bhagat… it has now increased my expectation from HF-GF.
Didn’t know he was involved in the screenplay of Kick.. are you sure indicine?
Problems for HG..
1. Arjun Kapoor- acting as a bihari boy..
2. Baahubali2- amazing run
Wow what a filmography!!! Proud to be cb fan
ya 100% chetan-arjun combo is deadly
Chetan Bhagat has been very successful as a writer . But Half Girlfriend is not looking exciting on the level of Kai Po Che and 2 States . The music has been good but people had more expectations after A2 and Ek Villain . Half Girlfriend will clash with Hindi Medium which is getting positive reviews from critics . HM looks like a small film made on a limited budget so the recovery will not be tough . This is an important film for Arjun, Shraddha, Mohit and Balaji Motion Pictures who are facing a tough time with A Flying Jatt, Udta Punjab, Great Grand Masti, Azhar and Kyaa Look Hain Hum 3 . If HG fails it will not be as bad for Chetan Bhagat because he is doing really well .
Arjun’s performance in 2 States was the most underrated of 2014. He was very good and showed great restrain in acting. I thought it was a very nuanced performance.
Am not a big fan of Chetan Bhagath books but they sure have a lot of sex which titillates his young audience.
Half girlfriend book I finished in one go.. didn’t like the way it ended and felt disappointed.. but it was interesting enough to keep reading without stopping
Half Girlfriend
Day1: 10cr
Lifetime: 79cr
Yaar everything is fine but please make 15 films a year like hollywood but make mammoth cinematic experiences not this crap
Loved his book he is a good writer .
The book was bad. The movie has bad casting. The story is the epitome of a guy being friend zoned. All the dumped devdas guys will love the movie.
i don’t think so..it need 75+ to be hit
movie is giving me same vibes of HAK,but young star cast will give it a push in opening..
60-70 lifetme..averge
Hello was a hit
chetan bhagat is also a + factor ..still opening under 10 for sure..music is avrge…nt long lsting .
I almost read his all novel.. I will rate 3 mistake and five points above all.. His wekst is one night at a call centre..for me half girfrend novel is above average.. Just get bore in middle otherwise it was good..
Loved all the films apart from Hello (as i didn’t seen yet). I have never read any novel of Chetan Bhagat so can’t comment on his writing skills but movies on his books are terrific so far. 3 idiots, 2 States and Kai po che were fab. Half girlfriend looks good on trailer but vibes are not that strong.
Still i hope it will continue winning streak of Chetan Bhagat.
Regarding kick I didn’t seen any much great as far as story & screenplay concerned. That was Salman and Nawaz show all the way. Story was poor so were the action in the movie.
Yes chetan Bhagat vl giv another 100crs movie wit halfgf n Bollywood is happy wit that.then there vl b a sequel half Oy friend if halfgf turns out b a 100crs net grosser n if halfboyfriend turns out b a 100crs movie to then there vl b another sequel called halfhusband.this is how Bollywood is going on, so nothing grt @Incidine bcoz it vl b the same ghisa pita story n nobody is interested after Bahubalu2
why din you not mention that chetan bhagat’s only failure “Hello” was your megastar “Bhai’s” film?
Only 3 idiots was a good concept..rest all including “kick” were duds !
3 Idiots is a classic, I also loved Kai Po Che. As for 2 States I found it OK but really overrated. Not so sure about Half Girlfriend, Arjun is not a good actor and Shraddha keeps repeating the same role all over again. I’ll wait for the reviews.
Potential 100 cr. Interesting to see how bahubali2 impact will play out.
Love it 2 successes of they year??? Really Raees and Kaabil didn’t release this year? Who writes these articles bunch of clowns with no sense
This novel is very popular but the buzz is missing mainly due to Baahubali 2 and music was below expectations and Arjun Kapoor’s Legendry acting skills which he shown in the trailer
2 states was highly overrated it was looking like a Saas Bahu serial to me
“HELLO” one night @ call centre was an amazing work
beautiful unique concept..
the move dint work well is
as i think its because of casting, screen play and direction
but the story was really awesome.. still loved the movie..