"Pulitzer Over Pan Masala Show": Chetan Bhagat To Madhavan In 'Twitter Spat'

It all started with a simple tweet and escalated into a Twitter spat of epic proportions. On Monday, author Chetan Bhagat and actor Ranganathan Madhavan had their followers reaching for the popcorn as they traded insults on the public platform. Their burns, however, were soon revealed to be a publicity stunt for the new Netflix show Decoupled. In the show, Madhavan plays the second-bestselling author in India, while Chetan Bhagat, in a special appearance, plays himself. The two are shown to be rivals - and that is pretty much the role they played on Twitter yesterday. 

It started when Chetan Bhagat responded to a tweet from Netflix India which asked people to choose between books and movies. Chetan Bhagat responded to the tweet and said "My books, and the movies based on them," and that in turn led Madhavan to say that he preferred movies over books. 

Chetan Bhagat replied: "Have you ever heard anyone ever say the movie is better than the book?" To this, Madhavan shot back: "YES! 3 Idiots."

YES! 3 Idiots???????????????????? https://t.co/gciVNcobiA

— Ranganathan Madhavan (@ActorMadhavan) December 20, 2021

3 Idiots is a hit film from 2009 starring Madhavan as an engineering student. It was based on Chetan Bhagat's novel Five Point Someone. 

"You're flaunting 3 Idiots to ME?" Chetan Bhagat then asked Madhavan. "Don't try to preach to the choir, maybe you should go actually read my books."

Here's how the actor responded:

If you love books so much, why are you in my new show? Decoupled streaming only on Netflix.???????????????? https://t.co/0LV9ReLaU8

— Ranganathan Madhavan (@ActorMadhavan) December 20, 2021

That, however, was not the end of the exchange. Chetan Bhagat immediately called Madhavan out for the "unsubtle plug" and added: "Maybe it's just me, I prefer a Pulitzer over a pan masala branded award show."

HAHAHAHAHA, what an unsubtle plug, maybe it's just me, I prefer a Pulitzer over a pan masala branded award show. https://t.co/fdJb7RZBuF

— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) December 20, 2021

"Well I prefer the 300 Crore Club over Bestseller," was Madhavan's savage rejoinder. Take a look at how the author of Five Point Someone hit back:

Well I prefer to be known as Chetan Bhagat over being known as Farhan from that one movie. https://t.co/NqdR8kdJBf

— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) December 20, 2021

It continued in this vein until Chetan Bhagat brought up his Netflix debut:

I would say just like your books, you are also better on the big screen! Hahahahaha.. actually you were Brilliant bro. ❤️❤️❤️❤️???????????????????? https://t.co/NziHuMWQte

— Ranganathan Madhavan (@ActorMadhavan) December 20, 2021

In the end, Madhavan confirmed what many were beginning to suspect - the whole back-and-forth was a publicity stunt for Decoupled. "Chetan Bhagat is my bro... we are just doing the publicity drill," he wrote. 

Hey if course it's scripted .????????????????????????.. @chetan_bhagat is my bro… we are just doing the publicity drill. ????????????❤️❤️???????? https://t.co/DoRe3ud2Xy

— Ranganathan Madhavan (@ActorMadhavan) December 20, 2021

But scripted or not, Twitter users were still amused by the banter.

Brilliant ????

— Arun Bothra ???????? (@arunbothra) December 20, 2021

Of course it's marketing but it's still funny.

— Aanchal Agrawal (@awwwnchal) December 20, 2021

So @ActorMadhavan roasting Chetan bhagat is such a pleasure to read. Yes I am biased towards maddy and don't care if it's a scripted banter ????

— S (@MissSingh04) December 20, 2021

Decoupled stars Madhavan as a misanthropic writer on the verge of divorce with his wife (played by Surveen Chawla).