Indian chick lit

"Indian chick lit" is the Indian subgenre of chick lit, a genre of fiction written for and marketed to young women, especially single, working women in their twenties and thirties. Chick lit features hip, stylish female protagonists (usually in their twenties and thirties and living in urban settings) and follows their love lives and struggles for professional success (often in the publishing, advertising, public relations, fashion or film industry). The books usually feature an airy, irreverent tone and frank sexual themes.

Rajashree's Trust Me is the biggest-selling Indian chick lit novel.^[1] The popularity of novels like Trust Me,^[2] Swati Kaushal's Piece of Cake ^[3] can be seen in the context of the rise of regional varieties of chick-lit.^[4] In an interview to the New York Times, Helen Fielding said, 'I think it had far more to do with zeitgeist than imitation.' If the chick lit explosion has 'led to great new female writers emerging from Eastern Europe and India, then it's worth any number of feeble bandwagon jumpers.'^[5] Sunaina Kumar wrote in the Indian Express, 'Ten years after the publication of Bridget Jones's Diary, the genre of fiction most recognisable for its pink cover art of stilettos, martini glasses and lipsticks, is now being colourfully infused with bindis, saris, and bangles. ' Sometimes referred to as 'ladki-lit', Indian chick-lit seems to be coming of age.^[6] The Zoya Factor by Anuja Chauhan is another chik lit novel which has got commendable praise.^[7]

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