That’s right, you are a glowing fragment of consciousness floating on the sea of the mind. You can no more control the mind than a boat can control the ocean.

Do you think films have potential to bring about social changes?
No, because I have not seen a surge in joint families since the release and block-buster success of Hum Aapke Hai Kaun.

More the cheerier. For sure, the show world needs more heroines — just a fistful dominate, and are everywhere, be it in A-grade projects, endorsements, television and thus, the collective imagination of the nation. Needless to carp, the window has to be opened wider to allow a gust of fresh air.

We started off a few weeks ago trying to figure out why certain fears that got stuck inside our heads couldn’t be shaken off, wouldn’t come out and couldn’t be pulled out either. We understood that these fears were secretly controlling our lives much like a puppeteer controls his puppets unseen from above.

I have always wondered about the 10 most ridiculous things in our films. And what continues to amaze me is how the audience is ever so tolerant of such dumb things.

Call me old-fashioned, but going to the movies isn’t the unalloyed joy it used to be. And that’s not only because the movies have regressed into banal themes, or because the market forces behave like angry pressure cookers nowadays. So, for this Sunday I’ll just point out a few perils of moviegoing today, starting of course with those...

F or last week’s column I received many messages of appreciation. I need to say this — the appreciation wasn’t deserved. That’s because I seemed to have made the war against your fears appear easier than it actually is. I went through my column again and got the impression that by merely reading it I had done half the job.

I have been in a profession that requires me to meet people, talk to them about new ideas and strategise developmental programs.

Why do people indulge in extramarital affairs?
Because it gives extra pleasure outside an ordinary marriage in an extraordinary way.

If you haven’t ever visited the campus of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, you’ve missed out on the heavenly scent of cinema. Quite old-worldly, the 53-year-old institute’s centrepoint is a cool, shade-casting Wisdom Tree.