A Review of “One Night @ The Call Centre by Chetan Bhagat”
This is the second book by Chetan Bhagat, whose first book “Five Point Someone” was a major hit in India. This one is even better than his first book. It’s funny and interesting and very light. Bhagat is an excellent storyteller but he needs a good editor. The book is very cheap at 95 rupees, but cheapness comes at a price: bad editor and bad paper/print quality. I started reading it last night and finished it in one sitting, 6 hours straight. No, I wasn’t sitting, I was lying.
It’s about 6 people working in a call centre: 3 men and 3 women. Bhagat is good at building characters and you can relate to the characters, and he builds them really fast. So well all these 6 people have problems in their lives which are introduced to us in a very interesting manner. It is thanksgiving night so the call flow is very light. They decide to take a short break and go to a night bar nearby. Coming back from the bar they meet (near) death. Death is staring at them when God calls on their cell phone. This God is real cool. He doesn’t ask them to be nice, or be polite to elders or pray or some such shit. This God simply asks them what they want and then tells them to do what they want. This becomes a turning point in their lives. They survive and how they survive! They become more alive after coming face to face with death. The ending is real cool.
So it’s an interesting, funny, cheap book. Go buy it.
Tags: Book Review, One Night @ The Call Centre by Chetan Bhagat, Five Point Someone
Neha M says:
I thought you said its trash?…
December 14th, 2005 at 09:34 pm
Kunal Goel says:
shhh… (that’s a secret
)
December 15th, 2005 at 01:24 am
Isaiah says:
Chetan Bhagat=Garbage
December 15th, 2005 at 10:38 am
Rashmi Mohapatra says:
worth reading again for those who thinks its a garbage as they have missed the real moral behind the story.Than Chetan for the beautiful book.
January 8th, 2006 at 11:22 am
Isaiah says:
I reiterate my point that Chetan is an absolute trash who just happened to catch the fancy of some cheap publisher(Rupa).
Imagine the kind of publishers we have these days who cant even recognise a Booker winning work by Nobel winning Naipaul, they can make anything into a novel.
January 8th, 2006 at 10:29 pm
shikha michael says:
I HAVE FOUND THE BOOK ESSENTIALLY REDOLENT OF THE FRESHNESS WHICH ONLY AN AUTHER HAVING EXCEPTIONAL COMMAND OVER THE BREVITY OF EXPRESSION CAN PRODUCE.
February 1st, 2006 at 03:23 pm
Rushenka Mrinalini says:
Whats’s chetan baghat trying to put in that story? Like all the call center ppl out there have nothing to be bothered about other than figuring out how to screw their colleagues??……. and the author unecessarily under-rates the Americans…c’mon…….. The picture he gives convey that all Americans are stupid enough to open the top the oven to put in a large turkey!……American’s have invented so many brilliant things after all….. wonder whether the comman american ever get to read this book…. they are sure to bawl out……and all of a sudden, a call from God arrives and everything suddenly takes a U turn.. Just like how the hero turns into a millionare in a typical masala hit……… the God’s call could have been replaced by something more relevant to the situation…. though he tries to justify the point at a later stage by saying that it could be Military uncle, it jus doesn’t fit in…………. chetan baghat could have done a lot better
February 19th, 2006 at 02:13 am
T says:
Though the book has a lot of room for improvement- the editing for sure sould be better and the storyline more believable- it is a good light read… Worth the 6 hours and 95 rupees… chetan- keep writing! Its cool…
February 23rd, 2006 at 12:03 am
khushboo says:
hey c’mon yaar:razz:, Chetan has done some good work. The way he has treated this story is something really new. Also, he has given a filmy touch to the book:!:
That call from God makes u feel important
& it also helps u to have faith in God . It suggests that one must do waht he actually wanna do. So ppl just go where ur heart is.:!::smile:
May 17th, 2006 at 12:48 am
Rajeev Gupta says:
Hi,Everybody
This book is for those few people who r criticizing the book.U always see the -ve aspect.wat chetan had tried is always see the broader aspect & be +ve ..the pointwich he tries to resembles thru god calling is the call from the inner self..see the aesthetic sense of it .He portrtayed the characters in a very real manner.
Well done chetan..Like me ,Many of us r waiting for ur next book…
August 12th, 2006 at 02:13 pm
Venky says:
Another good one by Chetan. He has his unique way of story telling. I have a feeling that his best are yet to come…..Keep writing chetan….
August 18th, 2006 at 10:04 am
Sachin Verma says:
I fully agree with Isaiah and Rushenka that Chetan Bhagat still needs to learn how to write a book….I am really intrigued as to who prompted him to write a book at this stage of his life when he doesnot know what he is writing……He has a long long way to go.As far his Book one Night@ a call centre is concerned I am still trying to figure out what he wanted to say in the book….The Book was of I guess around 230 pages and till 210th page he was writing all inconsequential stuff and then suddenly GOD comes in to picture on 211 th page and everything changes……..I am totally astound and feeling enigmatic by the way he has written this book..NO Moral to learn… and no Excitement…..in this book…..He has to learn from Dan Brown,Pauelo Coelho,John Grisham….the art of writing a book….
August 24th, 2006 at 08:06 pm
rini says:
August 30th, 2006 at 04:30 pm
Chetan Bhagat says:
I hate this book…you guys are all a bunch of crap-pots. I know I write like shit…boohoo!
Please help me!
September 22nd, 2006 at 01:34 pm
Kunal Goel says:
lol
September 22nd, 2006 at 01:59 pm
ezhil says:
September 23rd, 2006 at 07:01 pm
vivek says:
this book is very intresting & has changed my life forever thanks you fucking bhagat
October 8th, 2006 at 05:19 pm
Arpita says:
the book is worth reading,not giving a look at it
October 19th, 2006 at 08:32 pm
shravani mishra says:
This book can be described in just a single word “fantastic”………..
November 20th, 2006 at 01:04 pm
gayathri says:
I just spent the last 4 hours reading One night at the call centre and enjoyed every moment thoroughly…comparing an author like Chetan Bhagat to John Grisham is absurd bordering on ignorant…A new genre has been crafted through his style of writing which is impressionist…the world through his view…every character is carefully created and the raw quality of his writing would be tarnished by conventional editing…the ambiguity in the ending of both his books raises intrigue and keeps the book lingering in your mind….to me…the book was completely engrossing…
November 22nd, 2006 at 04:49 am
tanvi says:
dis is one of the interesting buk i have read:mrgreen::):lol:
December 2nd, 2006 at 12:47 pm
krishna Geete says:
The book is very good. If you are a call center people or a It people you must read it. I think Chetan is verry good at reading the mind of readers. I am waiting his new book and wish it will be a good book like previous book.
BEST OF LICK CHETAN
krishna Geete
February 26th, 2007 at 11:59 am
Kathirvel says:
The entire episode with the Sumo over the metal rods was crap! It was too much of shit to even run my imagination on it. Come on guys! We are in the age of reading espionages and what is this Sumo escape?
God save mankind!
April 10th, 2007 at 05:10 am
Kunjal Bhavsar says:
This is my first novel in my life and i m very lucky that my first novel is “One night @the call centre”. I have become a fan of Chetan Bhagat and requesting him to right such interesting novels. Thank you
August 16th, 2007 at 02:49 pm
annu says:
whos d gal who narrated the story to chetan bhagat????
August 25th, 2007 at 12:05 am
karuna chopra says:
well this ws the first novel of ma life…….it ws awesome where on one hand it had taught me believe in myself n in god too….the other hand ,has aroused ma interest in reading novels.
thanx alot mr.bhagat…….waiting 4 more such novels
well done !!! go ahead
September 15th, 2007 at 05:10 pm
saloni says:
hey guys…wt to say about chetan bhagat hez tooooooo guddd…omg wt does he actaully wana say frm 1 night at the center …i hope he doesnt mean tat i m talkin to the all the guys rite nw r juzz godsss..lol:P
well …i m juzz kiddin the storyy is toooo gudddd….n the suspense is damn amazinn…thge best thing i liked ws the curiosity that ws left on the fourth page of the bookitself…sayin..”the phone call was from god”
n i ws shokedddd…everything shattered…:P
i felt like reading the last page bt ma frenzz stopped me frm doing that……n i ws juzz nt ready to read the whole book…i ws soo confused n ma stomach had butterflies in it thinking what the suspense behind this god…..n the wrst thing i had to read the whole book to know it…usually the books have the suspense at the end..so there is not so muchh of curiosity bt tis 1 is speacial…its too gug….keep goin like tis
chetan bhagat
rokk on”"
September 29th, 2007 at 11:02 am
saloni says:
well..tat girl is itself GOD”"
September 29th, 2007 at 11:05 am
Kunal Goel says:
what are you saying! it’s nowhere implied that.
September 30th, 2007 at 03:23 pm
tooth fairy says:
who’s that gal who tells the story to chetan?
October 19th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
Kunal Goel says:
just a random girl he meets in a train
October 20th, 2007 at 06:00 am
Sadia Syed says:
Well…..yes the book does make for a good light read and the author’s fondness for apna bollywood shows up in the end….kind of corny and predictable end…that’s my humble view…but then that’s what makes readers feel g..oo.ood! (Includes me too, of course)
I hv worked in a call center for 6 months and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Its tough staying up all night, some callers are a pain but when it comes down to it….are’nt u supposed to be helping them? That’s what u get paid for…and it does feel good when a harried customer calms down and thanks you when u’ve helped him out, in a particularly tricky problem. U may not be Bill Gates or even an IIT’ian (ahem) but at that moment u hv thought fast, responded super quick and done your job….not all calls can be dealt with by parroting ‘tailormade scripts’ and/or following ‘prescribed procedures’ . Sometimes, u have to think on your feet, do some superfast research, even thump around the floor trying to get a solution…..while your call is on hold..the clock’s ticking away and the customer waiting patiently/impatiently.
Anyway, to get back to the book….it was an okay ‘people story’ but did’nt really give much insight into call center life.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:29 am
nihareeka says:
its a nice and gud book.. never judgr a book by cover and it is true…it tell us tht evn in lots prob nevr loose ur hope….
January 17th, 2008 at 06:15 pm
yashdeep says:
A “can read it once” book…………
if u go through thr moral behind writing d book thn u will find it interesting…………all the masala he had used is fucking crap……no resemble to reality……..that Girl is a Fake one i m sure…….its only to make a faith & believe in God…..n that a good job by Chetan……..Presentation of book is Nice,i must say fantastic with respect to a boring topic…….
all the ppl saying Chetan dont know to write the book,can u write a single page Damn it???
first figure out urself before judging to anyone else……..he had created such a crap topic into an interseting one………..
but no comparison wid Five point Someone……..
February 21st, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Ankit Agrawal says:
Hi Chetan,
I must admit to u that i have gained interest in reading books only after a read both of ur books….. amazing.. just loved them….but too many questions in my mind… could u pls answer them….
# wat happened to neha, Hari, Ryan n Alok????
# If u call urself hari, is it neha to whom u have dedicated the book( along with ur kids)
# In ur second book u have concluded it very well as to wat happened to all the caracters but wat happened with five point someone???????
#I mean why din u tell us about all the 4 characters n their present status????????
#wats all that about the girl/god the train giving u story for this book????????
#Why din u tell us about your family???
Pls i m waiting for ur reply
Thanks n Regards,
Ankit
March 22nd, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Agent Victor says:
I jus finished reading the book….May be i’m dumb not to understand..but i really couldn’t figure out as to who the girl in the train was…
“That is when it struck me. She was a girl, she knew the full story, but she was not Esha, Priyanka or Radhika. Which meant there was only one alternative left.
“So…that means…Oh my…’ My whole body shook…”
So who is he referring to guys???
March 25th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Military uncle says:
The voice was mine!
August 19th, 2008 at 02:43 pm
Rajendra Shinde says:
I am writing in response to Annu…why don’t you consider that girl to be yourself or any other girl like you? You missed the whole point of novel as a literary work..it’s an imaginaray fiction after all
September 21st, 2008 at 12:49 am
AMIT MISRA says:
the thing that i like most about chetan baghat is he gives deep knowldege about his subject matter…. soo dude carry on writing……
September 24th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Amit singh says:
the thing which i like most about chetan baghat
is that his story is based on true facts & that is touch direct to heart so keep doing this best of luck
September 24th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Vroom says:
What the hell we know if author doesnt disclose the identity of the train gal??
September 30th, 2008 at 01:07 pm
harish says:
pls, can anybody tell me the email add. of CHETAN BHAGAT? help me out at harikcrg@rediff.com
October 7th, 2008 at 12:44 am
sucharita says:
a vvvvvvvvvv nice book ….from startin 2 end.vvv refreshing and quite interesting 2
October 12th, 2008 at 03:12 pm
raghav says:
hi everybody
this is a nice book
so, must read it
October 17th, 2008 at 03:11 pm
dhruti says:
hey can any one tell about that girl who tell story to chetan bhagat?
February 10th, 2009 at 04:03 pm
Kunal Goel says:
That was Katrina Kaif .
February 10th, 2009 at 09:22 pm
Arjun says:
The girl can be ‘Shefali’, the semi-girlfriend of Shyam. But do the entire drama at the end of the train journey points to intervention of GOD???? I’m confused.
June 4th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
sonia mehta says:
actually who is that girl who meets chetan b on train journey ???? if its god ……. then really UNREALISTIC!
July 10th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
sonia mehta says:
if its shefali how could she know about the story of tha agents so well ???? that’s another big question… but the book contains various dialogues and phrases that emotionally relates as well as amuses the readers!
July 10th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Kunal Goel says:
A very interesting point sonia.
July 14th, 2009 at 04:23 pm
Anirudh DSP says:
This is a really riveting read…Vroom’s woes are really relevant to the current state of a lot of people…..
October 9th, 2009 at 12:05 am