Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Now that I have started acting in Bengali films, I will look forward to working with various directors.
The Prosenjit-Rituparna jodi is a huge contribution to Bengali cinema as we have delivered several hits.
I want to work in literature-based movies in Bengal as this is the specialty of the Bengali film industry.
I feel I can express the nuances of the Bengali lifestyle and ways of thinking better than other cultures.
At the age when Bengali youth almost inevitably writes poetry, I was listening to European classical music.
As I am a Bengali and am used to conversing in Bengali and English, I thought my Hindi would show an accent.
My wife Neelam is a North Indian, so she will make North Indian food, while my mother will make Bengali food.
We even had a different word for Christmas in my language, Bengali: Baradin, which literally meant 'big day.'
I tapped into my potential in Bengali films, which I don't think directors in Bollywood were able to understand.
I worked hard to reach where I am and I certainly don't want to lose my grip over either Bengali or Hindi cinema.
I love to cook, and both Pancham and Gulzarbhai loved to eat. Gulzarbhai loves my karela ghosht and my Bengali kheer.
I'm obsessed with all things Bengali, man. I love fish, my maid is Bengali, I acted in Bengali and Bangladeshi films.
I'm very happy that whenever we talk about Bengali cinema anywhere in India, people talk about me with a lot of respect.
When I have time, I would like to do films in my language but I would also like to star in Bengali and Marathi films too.
Earlier, people used to say no to regional films, but now people all over the world have started watching Bengali cinema.
In Bengali films, since I also write the lyrics, there are certain songs, which I get emotionally and personally attached to.
I like to read Bengali novels and short stories. I am not that fond of reading English books, as I don't have a connect with it.
Since my schooldays, I've read the translations of Bengali writers. I'm Punjabi, but I read a lot of Bengali and Urdu literature.
I had learnt horse riding while shooting for a Bengali film earlier and was trained in sword fighting on the set of 'Manikarnika'.
Culturally, I remember listening to Salil Chowdhury's music for Malayalam films. Many Bengali actors have worked in our films, too.
Everywhere I go today, people talk about Bengali cinema. I completely refuse to accept that Bengali filmmakers are not making good films.
Aakhir' stars Sanjay Suri and Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta. It's very close to my heart and the most realistic work I've ever done.
I learnt to sing in Bengali, my mother tongue, then went on to sing in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati and every possible Indian language.
Mainstream Bengali cinema unashamedly tries to copy Bollywood. They forget that they don't have the kind of budgets that Hindi filmmakers have.
I was an Indian with zero sense of caste till I was 20. That's an unusual privilege but it came out of the fact that I was a middle-class Bengali.
I have regional films, Bengali and Telugu, but always wanted to do a Marathi film especially because I think this industry makes the best comedy films.
Bengali and Malayalam industries are driven by sensible and subtle stories that people can relate to due to the states' literary and cultural heritage.
There are quality films being made in all languages, whether in Hindi cinema, Bengali or the south. Bollywood doesn't represent Indian cinema, per say.
People think that just because I live in Mumbai, I'm not interested in Bengali films. But I want to act more in Tollywood because roles here are meatier.
I've been greatly influenced by the music of R.D. Burman and Sudhin Dasgupta, and I took it as a challenge to bring back the golden days of Bengali music.
I've done a lot of Bengali films with heavyweights like Rituparna Ghosh, Buddhadeb Das Gupta and carved my niche with both commercial as well as art films.
I've more than 50 hits in Bengali cinema and it's a great feeling to have them released separately in the form of albums that are independent of the movies.
I am songwriter. I do compose the music of songs that I write in Bengali. But I've never thought of composing for a film. That's a different art altogether.
So my first role was when I was five years old. I had one scene with my mom in a Bengali film called 'Gajamukta.' After that, I thought I'd become Madhuri Dixit.
The top Bengali directors in Bollywood know about me and the work that I have done. I have worked with everyone, from Anurag Basu, Pradeep Sarkar to Shoojit Sircar.
I want to live in Kolkata; I don't want to live in Europe - I can't write there. I write in Bengali, and I need to be surrounded by the Bengali language and culture.
This trend used to exist in Bengali playback where singers and composers would have their own hit series. I am thrilled that Bengal is seeing a revival of that trend.
I want to urge filmmakers in Bengal to choose a subject and mount the film in a way that there's a Bengali connect. They must not fall into the typical remake pattern.
I have been doing Bollywood movies for a while, but my fans back home are always with me. They support me irrespective of whether I am working in a Bengali or a Hindi movie.
The relationship between Victoria Ocampo and Tagore is something every Bengali has heard about and there is a mystery attached to it. This mystery is enough to attract an actor.
I had a lot of Bengali friends in Delhi. The bands there had Bengali musicians: for example, Indian Ocean. We use to have a good amount of adda and sing songs through the night.
I am ready to work in any industry whether its Bollywood, Hollywood, the digital platforms, South Indian film, or Bengali films. Wherever I get a good opportunity, I'll be there.
When a director is remaking a film, he should tweak it, add Bengali sentiments to it and make it look like a regional movie. A copy-paste job is something I don't support at all.
The only thing redeeming about my being born a Bengali is being brought up reading Rabindranath and Saratchandra. Other than that, the stagnancy of this city put me off all along.
Growing up in an old-fashioned Bengali Hindu family and going to a convent school run by stern Irish nuns, I was brought up to revere rules. Without rules, there was only anarchy.
Whenever I get married, it will be a Bengali wedding. If I won't have a Bengali wedding, my mother won't come. She has warned me. So, I am going to have a Bengali wedding for sure.
I feel Bengali directors have offered me characters which have a story to tell and not just impress people because of what I wear in the film. That's the kind of roles I want to do.
I'd say, in some ways, I'm very Bengali. I have a love of the arts - dance, music, visual arts - which I think is a very Bengali trait. I also love food, which I know is very Bengali!
I was about 12 when I first encountered 'The Moonstone' - or a Classics Illustrated version of it - digging through an old trunk in my grandfather's house on a rainy Bengali afternoon.
In fact, the Bengali film industry is becoming more balanced between creativity and commercialization. And if Bollywood can remake south Indian and Hollywood films, why can't we do so!