In ‘12 Years: My Messed-up Love Story’, Chetan Bhagat wears too many hats
His attempt to straddle the generational divide — Millennials vs Gen Z — is ambitious
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Book Title: 12 Years: My Messed-up Love Story
Author: Chetan Bhagat
Chetan Bhagat’s latest novel ventures into the complexities of modern relationships, generational contrasts, and societal expectations. ‘12 Years: My Messed-up Love Story’ is the tale of Saket Khurana, a 33-year-old ex-private equity hotshot-turned-stand-up comic, and Payal Jain, a 21-year-old finance prodigy from a conservative family with a rebellious streak. What follows is a rollercoaster of love, lust, heartbreak and melodrama.
Saket and Payal are madly in love. Their chemistry is electric, sex life “insane”, and they love spending time together — when they’re not being torn apart by parental disapproval and the occasional drunken disaster. In part one of their relationship, Payal herself sums it up best: “The older-guy thing for me. The younger-girl thing for you. But ultimately it wasn’t meant to last.”
Bhagat’s attempt to straddle the generational divide — Millennials vs Gen Z — is ambitious. Saket represents the slightly jaded, career-shifting Millennial, while Payal is the driven, no-nonsense Zoomer with a job at a firm called Blackwater. The idea is clever: place the protagonists in different generations and see what sparks fly. Unfortunately, some of those sparks fizzle out due to a slightly clumsy portrayal of Gen Z; at times, it feels like a Baby Boomer trying to decode TikTok.
The plot is pure Bollywood: a scandalous bedroom discovery, a forbidden romance, an “electronic leash” to keep Payal in check, and a dramatic engagement party crash. Add to that a four-year jump, a career transformation and a series of ‘When Harry Met Sally’ style run-ins, and you’ve got a recipe for a film script.
Saket’s journey from comic to capitalist is abrupt. One moment he’s cracking jokes like “It’s hard to write comedy when your life’s turning into tragedy”, and the next he’s all about money and power. Payal, meanwhile, goes from rebellious daughter to finance queen, married to Parimal, a stereotypical “suitable boy” from the Jain community.
Bhagat’s writing is breezy and accessible, as always. The one-liners are plentiful — some genuinely funny, others trying a bit too hard. The emotional beats are familiar: heartbreak, longing, redemption. But the book’s biggest challenge is its attempt to be everything to everyone. It wants to be a Gen Z romance, a Millennial reflection, a Bollywood screenplay, and a stand-up comedy script all at once. That’s a lot of hats for one book to wear, and sometimes it slips.
Still, there’s something endearing about Saket and Payal’s messed-up love story. Bhagat taps into the chaos of modern relationships, the clash of cultures, and the confusion of growing up (and apart). He may not nail every generational nuance, but he does capture the emotional tug-of-war that defines so many real-life romances.
‘12 Years’ is a popcorn read — light, fast-paced and full of drama. While Bhagat can’t be accused of profundity, the book is entertaining, albeit not original in plot. If you’re looking for a novel that feels like a rom-com with a dash of stand-up and a sprinkle of family drama, this one’s for you. Just don’t expect Gen Z to nod in agreement too often.
Despite its narrative excesses, the book manages to capture the emotional chaos of modern relationships with Bhagat’s trademark readability.
— The reviewer is a freelancer based in Chandigarh
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