“Getting to know myself and having to be honest with myself about who I am versus who I thought I was is a humbling experience,” he said. Writing forced him into corners of his personality he’d avoided. It also gave him a new mission: “I encourage everyone to write your story. It is such an enlightening process, to use words to write what you are experiencing.”
Lessons from the Middle East
The conversation shifted dramatically when host Anas Bukhash asked about the Middle East — and Smith’s entire posture brightened. If writing taught him who he had been, this region, he said, represented who he could become creatively. “I’m really excited about the Middle East opening up,” he said. “It’s one of the only places on earth that has thousands of years of stories that hasn’t been mined on a global scale.” The actor spoke with genuine enthusiasm about collaborating with regional creatives, searching for narratives hidden in history, culture, and identity.
“To be a part of the region as it is opening, to be able to work with creatives, find stories and tell stories — that really excites me.”
Smith sees storytelling as a universal pulse. Strip away accents, religions, and borders, he argued, and human experience still beats the same way everywhere.
Manjusha Radhakrishnan has been slaying entertainment news and celebrity interviews in Dubai for 18 years—and she’s just getting started. As Entertainment Editor, she covers Bollywood movie reviews, Hollywood scoops, Pakistani dramas, and world cinema.
Red carpets? She’s walked them all—Europe, North America, Macau—covering IIFA (Bollywood Oscars) and Zee Cine Awards like a pro. She’s been on CNN with Becky Anderson dropping Bollywood truth bombs like Salman Khan Black Buck hunting conviction and hosted panels with directors like Bollywood’s Kabir Khan and Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh. She has also covered film festivals around the globe.
Oh, and did we mention she landed the cover of Xpedition Magazine as one of the UAE’s 50 most influential icons?
She was also the resident Bollywood guru on Dubai TV’s Insider Arabia and Saudi TV, where she dishes out the latest scoop and celebrity news. Her interview roster reads like a dream guest list—Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Shah Rukh Khan, Robbie Williams, Sean Penn, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Joaquin Phoenix, and Morgan Freeman.
From breaking celeb news to making stars spill secrets, Manjusha doesn’t just cover entertainment—she owns it while looking like a star herself.
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