Chetan Prakash Bhagat (born 22 April 1974) is an Indian author and columnist. He was included in Time magazine's list of World's 100 Most Influential People in 2010. Bhagat graduated in mechanical engineering at IIT Delhi and completed an MBA at IIM Ahmedabad. He started his career as an investment banker, but left it after a few years to pursue his passion in writing. He has written eight novels and three non-fiction books. His first novel, Five Point Someone, was published in 2004. His novels have been listed as bestsellers. Five of Chetan Bhagat's novels have been adapted into Bollywood films like Hello (based on One Night @ the Call Center), 3 Idiots (based on Five Point Someone), Kai Po Che! (based on The 3 Mistakes of My Life); 2 States (based on his novel of the same name) and Half Girlfriend (based on his novel of the same name). Bhagat has also written the scripts for Bollywood films like Kick in 2014 and adapted his stories for the movies Kai Po Che! and Half Girlfriend. Bhagat won the Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay for Kai Po Che! at the 59th Filmfare Awards in 2014. Bhagat is often invited to speak at various institutes and organisations in India and abroad. He is also active on social media. He also writes op-ed columns for English and Hindi newspapers, including The Guardian, The Times of India and Dainik Bhaskar, focusing on youth, career, leadership, political issues and current affairs.