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ABOUT ME...

I write...

This is more than just my profession. Writing is my passion. I feel passion is important if one wants to be a writer, more so if one has a desire to be a journalist. What is journalism without feeling, nay, what is writing at all without this beautiful human emotion.

I have been both a journalist and writer, having worked in India's two   best regarded newspapers: The Statesman, where I learnt the discipline of time, the value of space, the ethics of journalism and, above all, the greatness of humanity and humility.

At The Hindu, I wrote on, among other issues, cinema. This assignment, when it was given to me over two decades ago, was at once novel and challenging -- to write on motion pictures with all the excitement that it deserves and with all the seriousness that behoves the daily newspaper.

My task was to write on cinema in The Hindu in a manner that befitted its editorial poise. This is what I did for almost a quarter century and there was never a dull moment for me and hopefully for the reader.  

Today, I write for a variety of publications spread across the globe: Sakaal Times in India, The Dawn in Pakistan, The National in Abhu Dhabi, The Lumiere Reader in New Zealand, The Seoul Times in South Korea, The Japan Times in Japan, The First Post and Sight & Sound in Britain and The Hollywood Reporter in the USA. At the Reporter, I am the India Film Critic, covering cinema in all Indian languages. I also review movies for the Reporter from Venice, Marrakech and Deauville, where I write on cinema that can be Italian or French or Chinese or Spanish or Japanese or...     

I have just completed an authorised biography of Adoor Gopalakrishnan, India's only living auteur-director. To be published by Penguin International soon, the research was funded by Ford Foundation. And, I enjoyed every moment of penning.

Earlier...

I wrote editorials, comments, analyses and features on a wide range of subjects, such as  cinema, theatre, literature, history, archaeology, environment, wildlife, health, children and other socio-economic issues.

I have been travelling widely both within the country and outside on a variety of journalistic assignments. I have done spot reporting, and interviews with organizations, including UNESCO in Paris, The Sorbonne University also in Paris, The Globe Theatre in London, The Belgium Centre For Comic Strip Art in Brussels and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and Museum.

I have met and written about personalities such as Arundhati Roy, Dame Barbara Cartland, Satyajit Ray, Lars Von Trier, Ken Loach, Mike Leigh, Jane Campion, Paul Cox, Gregory Peck, Sidney Poitier, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Zubin Mehta, John Galliano (Christian Dior), Karl Lagerfeld (Chanel), Pierre Cardin and several Indian politicians among others.

I have been regularly covering international movie festivals at Cannes (2009 was my enth year there), Venice, Berlin, Montreal, Tokyo, Fukuoka and in India since 1990. Documentaries, shorts and children's cinema are also among my interests.

I served on the international critics jury at the 52nd Melbourne International Film Festival in July 2003, and on the main international jury of the International Film Festival of India in New Delhi during October the same year. I have also been on the Venice, Deauville and Pune juries. 

I have  been on the jury for the National and State movie awards in India. Was a member of the National Book Jury in New Delhi as well.

In 2001, I was invited by the Japanese Foreign Ministry to study contemporary Japanese cinema. It was a six-month fellowship, and I met about 50 directors, actors and actresses. I was based in Tokyo, and travelled around Japan writing stories on Japanese cinema, society and culture for "The Hindu".

Future...

I plan to wirte a biography of Dr S. Krishnaswamy, the renowned documentary film-maker. I have known him for a quarter century.

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