Chetan Bhagat Finds Stillness and Inspiration in Dubai
Chetan Bhagat said he moved to Dubai to isolate himself and write his new book 12 Years, away from fame and distractions/ Instagram@ChetanbhagatFor a man who built his literary career on the chaos and contradictions of Indiaâs middle class,Chetan Bhagatâs latest twist is almost cinematic. Like several Mumbai celebrities, the bestselling author, screenwriter and former banker has quietly traded the noise of the city for the calm of Dubai.But unlike the usual celebrity migration motivated by glamour or tax perks, Bhagatâs move, now nearly a year and a half old, was about something rarer: silence.A search for stillnessâI was looking for a peaceful space in my life and Dubai offered me the quiet I was looking for,â he toldCity Times, a lifestyle supplement ofKhaleej Times. The irony isnât lost on anyone familiar with Dubai Marinaâs glitzy image, but Bhagat insists the stereotype misses the cityâs subtler side.âMost people have an Instagram idea of Dubai, often seen as a hyper-luxurious destination and endless parties. But there is a 5 a.m. Dubai too,â he said, describing early risers jogging along the waterfront, swimmers braving the open sea, and yoga enthusiasts greeting the dawn. âIt is a city on the move, in the right direction.âHis apartment overlooking Marina Walk serves as both retreat and workspace. Here, Bhagat says, he jogs, meets friends, and most importantly, writes.The view is far from monastic, but for a writer wrestling with distraction, the calm is hard-won.From fame to âDeep WorkâIn an interview with94.3 Radio One, Bhagat traced his shift to the philosophy of âdeep work,â inspired by Cal Newportâs book of the same name. âWhat I was doing was all over the place,â Bhagat said. âYouTuber, Instagram, TV showsâitâs kind of like the whole Chetan Bhagat thing. While itâs good for PR and name recognition, itâs not satisfying as I age.Itâs not giving me the sense that Iâm mastering something.âHe realised, as he put it, that âyou have to cut out other things and isolate yourself and devote yourself to your work, slash art, whatever it is you do, if you really are interested in taking it to the next level. So I moved to Dubai. I still have my place in Mumbai. I come, do a lot of back and forth every month. Iâm in and out, but I live literally alone to write12 Years,alone and away from the fame, away from the Chetan Bhagat brand, being aware that Iâm this best-selling writer.And I think the magic shows in this book, because people have been telling me this book has soul. That the old Chetan Bhagat is there,â he told Radio One.A love story rebornThat âold Chetan Bhagatâ re-emerges in his latest novel,12 Years: My Messed-Up Love Story, released in October 2025. The book, which Bhagat says is âextremely close to my heart and one of my best, if not the best,â returns to the themes that made him famous: love, ambition, and modern Indiaâs emotional tug-of-war between progress and tradition.The story follows Saket, a struggling stand-up comic, and Payal, a private equity professional, as they navigate a relationship defined by age difference, ambition, and cultural expectations. The novelâs emotional depth, Bhagat admits, came from the solitude Dubai afforded him. âThat level of depth comes when Iâm away,â he toldRadio One. âDubai helps me because itâs still not far from India, but itâs still a foreign land.There are a lot of Indians, but where I live there arenât that many.âReconnecting with the craftIn Dubai, he found what he calls âthe joy of creating,â something fame had nearly taken away. âPublicity is nice. Launches are nice. But honestly, theyâre not giving me as much joy as they used to,â he said. âThe biggest joy was creating it, working with the editors, writing it. When your own intrinsic work is giving you joyânot the claps from outsideâthatâs a very good space to be.So I think thatâs why I moved.âBhagatâs move mirrors a quiet yet deliberate migration of Indian artists and entrepreneurs seeking a balance between productivity and privacy. Yet, in his case, the relocation also marks an evolutionâfrom Indiaâs everyman storyteller to a thoughtful artist rediscovering discipline and solitude.Dubai, a city often defined by its relentless pace, seems to have taught him stillness. And in that profound stillness, Chetan Bhagat appears to have found his next great story, not in the noise of ambition, but in the quiet where true creation finally speaks.