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My parents' relationship with Kolkata is so strong. Growing up, the absence of Kolkata was always present in our lives.

Kolkata is a musical city. What I like about people here is the lack of diplomacy. Some of the best Indian classical musicians belong to this place. Kolkatans do not go by fashion, but by passion.

West Bengal belongs to Bengalis. We should live here like a king and not as servants.

Kolkata is a great city, has great food and great people. We had some problems finding the kind of old buildings we were looking for, and even handling the crowds, but on the whole it was fun shooting there.

Bengalis love to celebrate their language, their culture, their politics, their fierce attachment to a city that has been famously dying for more than a century. They resent with equal ferocity the reflex stereotyping that labels any civic dysfunction anywhere in the world 'another Calcutta.'

I grew up in Kolkata in a traditional family. We had friends who lived in mansions just like the one in 'Oleander Girl.' Growing up, I was fascinated by the old house and the old Bengal lifestyle.

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.

I feel I can express the nuances of the Bengali lifestyle and ways of thinking better than other cultures.

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.

I lived in Calcutta for five months in 1999. While I was there, I read many journals, diaries, collections of letters and histories.