I'm back. Yes, as promised, I have not forsaken you. I took an extended leave of absence for reasons I shall soon go into, but that's all in the past now. I'm here, you're here (well not 'here' where I am 'here', but 'here' somewhere, no doubt. Perhaps even there.) and we're back in business. Ok, explanation time. Where was I?

Here and there, mostly. Things got a little hectic with my shooting and promoting schedule, and I started to feel like I wasn't able to write my columns in a way that satisfied me. It always seemed to me like I was compromising, and writing stuff that was “good enough“. I didn't want that, and I didn't want any of you to feel that, which is why I decided to take a break from writing, focus on the things I needed to do properly, and then come back. Make sense? I hope so...

So what have I been up to all this time? Well, if you don't know, then clearly I wasn't doing a good enough job of it; I was doing the rounds promoting I Hate Luv Storys! I travelled to London, Dubai, Delhi, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and Pune, never spending more than 24 hours in any one place. I recorded interviews for TV and radio, spoke to journalists from newspapers, magazines and websites, and just for good measure, appeared on some TV shows as well. I practically gave up eating and sleeping (no time for luxuries like that!) and have lost a fair amount of weight. Not a good thing. It was, however, totally worth it, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Because it paid off.

The film opened well, was generally well received (except for one columnist, but it's best not to talk about that; no telling what punishment would lie in store for me), and continues to do good business at the box office. So I'm pretty happy right now. Additionally, I hope you've seen the film, and are also happy.

Hopefully that clears up the lingering mystery. I will say that I have missed hearing from all of you, and I look forward to picking up where we left off. Do write in and let me know what's been going on. It's good to be back.

imran.khan@hindustantimes.com