I was lucky to work with some of the finest filmmakers - Guru Dutt, Satyajit Ray, Vijay Anand, Raj Khosla, Asit Sen.
I came back to Mumbai with the tag of having assisting the legendary Satyajit Ray. I thought that would be a medal, but it became a disqualification. People thought I would only make serious kinds of cinema.
I feel lucky to have worked with Satyajit Ray.
My major influence is Satyajit Ray; his film 'Shatranj ke Khilari' was set in Awadh and it gave us memorable characters. Ray's musical scores and soundtracks were an intrinsic part of his films. And music to me is important, too.
My life changed when I was introduced to Satyajit Ray. It was acting for me thereafter.
When my father got the letter from Satyajit Ray saying I could work with him, I had to give up 'Saat Hindustani.' So I left for Calcutta and Amitabh got the role of the poet that I was supposed to play.
Bengal has always produced good cinema, be it Satyajit Ray or Ritwik Ghatak.
I could not do Satyajit Ray's 'Kanchenjunga' because I had already committed the daters he wanted to shoot on to other producers.
Working with stalwarts like Satyajit Ray, Soumitra Chatterjee and Rabi Ghosh is an experience I always cherish.
My father, Inder Raj Anand - a famous writer in his own right - was a great friend of Satyajit Ray.
I carry too much baggage... the baggage of David Lean, Satyajit Ray, Shyam Benegal.
I grew up watching Ritwik Ghatak, Satyajit Ray and Mirnal Sen's works in my youth, which was a very turbulent phase in Bengal's history.
Satyajit Ray has played a very major part in my career. He was the one who gave me the launch platform when he selected me for his 'Apur Sansar.'
I have grown up watching Satyajit Ray, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Basu Chatterjee, Ritwik Ghatak, Raj Kapoor; listening to SD Burman, RD, Kishore Kumar and Salil Chowdhury.
Originally Jagte Raho was offered to Satyajit Ray to direct but he wasn't available. That's why the whole crew was Bengali in the film because Dada was supposed to direct it.