I’ve just been through one of the most challenging periods of my working life: being a Golden Globes International Voter. Sure, it is a privilege being the only Indian voter invited from 103 new voters in 62 nations. But it is also very rare to have to watch 345 feature films for an award. What?! Yes, 345 films—in about two months. But that wasn’t all: as South Asia Delegate to the Berlin Film Festival, I was already considering about 250 films for the festival, including 226 submissions. Together, I was looking at a list of about 600 films—phew! Six. Hundred. Films. Let that sink in. Of course, that’s impossible. 

But because I’m also a filmmaker—not sure you’re aware, I’ve worked on 15 films and TV series, including directing Looking for Amitabh, a documentary short—I went all out to see as many films as I could. I was barely sleeping a few hours each night for two months: it was an incredible endurance test—of film.