Mumbai: Chetan Bhagat whose upcoming novel Half Girlfriend has had many unfavorable encounters already is in news again.
A defamation suit of Rs.1 crore has been reportedly slapped against the author by a descendant of the royal family of the erstwhile princely state of Dumraon in Bihar.
Reacting to the news, Bhagat said that there was some “misunderstanding” as his book is a work of fiction. Singh has brought the defamation suit against the author for allegedly portraying the male members of his family in negative light.
He also said there was no relation between the family he mentions in his book with the real one.
“Somebody in Bihar feels they belong to the family, which is fictionally represented in the book. But it’s a fiction. So the question of defamation does not arise and I don’t know these people. I don’t even know they existed.
“Once they said they were not happy I said, ‘let’s be friends and let’s have a friendly chat’. That I will say to anyone. If I don’t know someone exists, how will I defame them? It is a misunderstanding. They have asked us to respond to them so we will respond,” Bhagat said.
“The court will decide. It is almost a compliment if people feel my story in ‘Half Girlfriend’ is real, it is not. I am shocked that people feel that way,” he added.
The book narrates the story of a Bihari boy falling in love with a girl from upper class society. And the tale will also be brought to the silver screen by director Mohit Suri.