One Night at the Call Centre

Chetan Bhagat’s second novel, One Night @ the Call Center, is based on a group of people working at a call center who have a chance encounter with God. The book describes a bunch of completely different characters with differing aims and ambitions, and how they pull themselves together and resolve these issues finally. Shyam, Priyanka, Vroom, Esha, Radhika and Military Uncle are colleagues in a call center. An unfaithful husband, a scheming boss, apathetic grandchildren and a forced engagement are just some of their collective problems, and when the gang decides to take some time off work, a freak accident leads to a precarious situation – one that’s life altering. In his trademark style, Bhagat fiddles around with issues like battered ambitions and the poignant aspect of love. The book was converted into a movie by Atul Agnihotri and was re-christened as Hello. It released in October 2008, and starred Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Gul Panag and Sharman Joshi.