Marlon Brando

A pioneer of method acting. Right from ‘On The Waterfront’ to Godfather’, he has shown amazing restrain and versatility. Marlon Brando changed the face of Hollywood cinema with his controlled body language, highly modulative dialogue delivery and mobile face which spoke volumes.

It is very difficult to imitate him. When one sees Brando in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ one cannot imagine that this was the same actor one saw in ‘On The Waterfront’. ‘Young Lions’ showed him in another form very few actors have.

‘Last Tango in Paris’ showed Brando could do anything effortlessly on screen in spite of being a method actor. The way he modulated his voice in ‘Godfather’ remains a lesson in acting. The later Brando in ‘The Apocalypso’ now and ‘Island of Dr. Moreau’ was a seasoned actor to whom histrionics was child’s play. He always preferred quality and never did many films.

Peter O’Toole

This marvellous discovery of Sir David Lean in ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ is a true actor of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts school. He conveyed maximum through his eyes which had a hypnotic effect. Peter O’Toole is simply unforgettable in ‘Lion in Winter’, ‘Goodbye Mr Chips’ and ‘Night of The Generals’.

He is an actor who breathes life into any character even in cameos like ‘The Last Emperor’ and ‘Troy’. I simply cannot forget Becket where he gave a performance yet to be equalled.

Al Pacino

No one except Al Pacino could play Michael Corlone in ‘Godfather’ with such dignity and ease. He made Michael Corlone come alive on screen. The way he reacted to the song sequence ‘Speak Softly Love’ in ‘Godfather’ tuned by Mino Rotza remains a histrionic wonder. Al Pacino made method acting look so spontaneous in ‘Scarface’, ‘Scent of a Woman’ and ‘The Devil’s Advocate’. He again made Shylok come alive on screen in the recent ‘Merchant of Venice’.

Dilip Kumar

He is my idol, my favourite hero. No actor in Indian cinema has attempted so many varieties in so less number of films like he did. A true method actor Dilip Kumar has no parallels when he underplays delivering his dialogues in low key and using his hands to give that magic effect. This is so evident in ‘Andaz’, ‘Footpath’, ‘Devdas’ and ‘Mughal - e - azam’. He used a natural design for his comedies ‘Kohinoor’ and ‘Ram aur Shyam’. Whilst acting with him in ‘Shakti’ I noticed his inimitable dedication and intensity. Till date I liked him the most in ‘Ganga Jamuna’.

Uttam Kumar

The uncrowned king of Bengali cinema. I worked with him in ‘Desh Premee’ and noticed his magnificent abilities as an actor. He had a divine screen presence, smile and an excellent voice. There is no better romantic actor than him specially in his films with Suchitra Sen. He was versatile and changed according to his age. Uttam Kumar was the ideal ‘Nayak’ for Satyajit Ray.

As told to Ranjan Das Gupta