Let’s get down to brass tacks. Why do you write?

To me writing is a medium for telling stories. Even though a lot of my writing is in the non-fiction space, every piece that I write tells my reader something about the subject that I have written about. It’s the subject’s story that I try to bring to life, to notice through my writing.

Tell us about your most recent book or writing project. What were you trying to say or achieve with it?

My most recent book or my forthcoming book is about the cinema of yesteryear writer-film-maker, Nasir Husain. Husain is the man behind some of Hindi cinema’s biggest commercial entertainers such as Teesri Manzil (1966), Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973) and Hum Kisise Kum Nahin (1977). He also launched his nephew Aamir Khan in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988). Despite helming such significant films, Husain has not been given his due. His cinema has often been dismissed as froth. But froth is not facile. His cinema had a very modern aesthetic to it. His dialogue-writing had a distinct contemporary spark and he was among the best in picturizing song sequences. With this book, I am hoping to contextualize the significance of Husain’s work and open a conversation in regard to the seriousness with which his cinema must be examined.