I was fortunate enough to work with legends like Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Basu Chatterjee, Vijay Anand and Yash Chopra, and contemporary filmmakers like Farhan Akhtar and Karan Johar.
We used to do four or five films at a time and were not able to experiment with too many things. But, the heart was in the right place and everybody worked passionately. We had wonderful directors like Bimal Roy, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Raj Kapoor.
I came to Bombay and got my first big break in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's 'Guddi.'
'Newton' is a very Indian film. I think, after a long time, people will see an Indian film in its true form. As in the story, the character, it is set in the heartland of India, but it's purely like how there was a time when Hrishikesh Mukherjee used to make sweet Indian films.
I loved the cinema of Basu Chatterjee, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Bhattacharya. Their movies were close to life, yet heart-warming.
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.
There's a big time influence Hrishikesh Mukherjee has always had on my work. I can watch 'Anand,' 'Golmaal' or 'Chupke Chupke' as many times as possible. I just really admire his kind of cinema.
In terms of directors, great actors make directors - Gary Oldman was great to work with, for me; Tim Roth, too. You work with Scorsese and Spielberg and they were wonderful directors, but for me, working with actor/directors is special.
Got a chance to work with amazing and finest directors like Priyadarshan, Anurag Kashyap, Imtiaz Ali, Meghna Gulzar, Vipul Shah, Dibakar Banerjee, Kamal Haasan, etc.
After working in a number of films as a child actor, I took a break so that people could forget me as a child actor and relate to me as a hero.
Directors don't get to see other directors at work - they're the only one on the set. I've met directors who've asked me what another filmmaker is like. So, there's probably nobody better placed to make all the comparisons and to pick up stuff than an actor.
Aditya Chopra is my mentor and one of my favorite directors.
I have worked with top directors like Rajamouli and Vinayak and with upcoming directors like Vamsi.
After 1999, I thought that I needed a break. As a senior composer, I didn't like the trend of three music directors working on a single film. But after a few quiet years, I was back for good.
Working with actors really depends on the actor. Most of the directors I've worked with don't really know how to speak to actors, actually; some of the best directors don't.
The all-pervading energy source of existence or Shakti manifests itself as creation. Shakti is the divine mother who gives birth to and nurtures the newborn-whether it is a newborn babies a brand new relationship, a fresh idea, or a magical manifestation. Although Shakti is beyond the boundaries of gender, form or color, we call It Mother because of its mothering and creative qualities.