I was interested in both Western and Indian classical music.

At the age when Bengali youth almost inevitably writes poetry, I was listening to European classical music.

Cinema’s characteristic forte is its ability to capture and communicate the intimacies of the human mind.

The director is the only person who knows what the film is about.

The only solutions that are ever worth anything are the solutions that people find themselves.

I don't understand these national awards, because half of those who sit in judgement over Indian films do not... possess the competence to evaluate a film correctly.

My films play only in Bengal, and my audience is the educated middle class in the cities and small towns. They also play in Bombay, Madras and Delhi where there is a Bengali population.

There's always some room for improvisation.

Last, but not least -- in fact, this is most important -- you need a happy ending. However, if you can create tragic situations and jerk a few tears before the happy ending, it will work much better.

When I write an original story I write about people I know first-hand and situations I'm familiar with. I don't write stories about the nineteenth century.

Particularly in the final stages I always find that I'm rushed. It's dangerous when you're rushed in the editing stage, most of my early films are flawed in the cutting

The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved -- loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.

Although men are accused of not knowing their own weakness, yet perhaps few know their own strength. It is in men as in soils, where sometimes there is a vein of gold which the owner knows not of.

Constant, gentle pressure is my preferred technique for leadership, guidance, and coaching.

I think that if you start teaching about giving back and helping other people young, that will be a given for your child their whole life.

People do not read, by and large. They watch television.

There is nothing people can throw at me to say: Do this, do that.

Well, TV does a better job. In film, the justification has been that movies focused on stories or featuring people of color don't make money.

To plant trees is to give body and life to one's dreams of a better world.

It is not so easy to keep silent when the silence is a lie.

I auditioned nine times for 'Delhi Belly,' and it was torturous!