12 YEARS: CONTROVERSY BEFORE RELEASE

Chetan Bhagat, one of India’s most widely read authors, is once again under fire. His upcoming novel, 12 Years: My Messed-Up Love Story, has sparked outrage even before hitting shelves, centred on the romance between a 33-year-old divorced man and a 21-year-old woman—a storyline many readers deem deeply problematic.

Social media has criticised the premise, calling it “borderline paedophilia” and accusing the book of normalising grooming. The sharp age gap between the protagonists has become a flashpoint, with readers questioning whether such portrayals risk influencing young audiences.

Parth Kelkar (@toomanytats), a digital creator, argues that modern age-gap romances can be handled with nuance, but Bhagat instead “paints the girl as naive, clueless and almost infantilises her.”

He adds, “There was no need for her to be 21, apart from she’s naive and an idiot. They both could have been 25 and 35, offering a better commentary on love today. Instead, he chooses to make it worse in every way—age, romantic experience, even religion and culture—marking a new low in Indian literature.”

Despite the backlash, Bhagat has defended his work with a cryptic post on X, suggesting that literary elitism fuels much of the outrage.

Tahoora (@Tahoorahashmi), another digital creator, disputes this defence, “Instead of addressing questions about his book, Bhagat is attacking readers and critics, seeking some sort of licence for their criticism. His claims of elitism don’t hold—he brands himself an underdog while being India’s best-selling author. This distraction is a huge disservice to literature. It is better not to read than to absorb books that shape negative views about women.”

The uproar around 12 Years: My Messed-Up Love Story highlights changing expectations in popular fiction. Modern readers are increasingly vocal about narratives that appear to glorify troubling dynamics. For Bhagat, the challenge is whether his book will be seen as bold social commentary—or simply a “messed-up” misstep.