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 a 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...and The Hindu.

I am now with The Hindu, writing 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.

pix of the moment Tamil actress Simran campaigns for the State Assembly election * CLICK FOR STORY

What is new here:  Picture gallery Star election in Tamil Nadu Syriana reviewed Hunting the tiger Paris Hilton Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct 2 Cannes' official lineup Mundhra's Provoked at Cannes After the Sunset, a review The Da Vinci Code on film India at Cannes Walk the Line Cannes' A Certain Regard Pride and Prejudice Crash, the movie Oscar 2006, the wins The Da Vinci Code at Cannes Chinese to head Cannes jury French cinema now

My task was to write on cinema in The Hindu in a manner that befitted its editorial poise. This is what I have since been doing and there hasn’'t been a dull moment for me and hopefully for the reader.