Sharmila Tagore
 I was discovered by Satyajit Ray in Apur Sansar in the late 50s. I was barely 13 then.  Later, when I was 14, I worked with him in Devi in 1960.  When Ingmar Bergman saw me in the film he said, “Who is this girl?  Her eyes haunt me.”  Later, I worked with Ray in Nayak, Aranyer Din Ratri and Seemabaddha.  Ray was like a father figure.  He never made me act.  He believed in making his actors behave.  During the shooting of Nayak, which was based on Uttam Kumar, he saw to it that I didn’t get overshadowed by the icon.  He placed the camera in a  manner that both of us got equal footage.

Ustad Ali Akbar Khan
I scored the music for Ray’s Devi.  It was based on a literary masterpiece by Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay. Ray made me undergo many rehearsals.  He only used a select number of ragas.  I was dissatisfied as I thought my independence as a music director was being curtailed. He appeared autocratic at times.  I doubted his knowledge of Indian classical music.  Later when I saw the film I was deeply moved.  Ray was more a master of the western classical than Indian music.  His talk on the 125 th anniversary of All India Radio on the music of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin remains memorable.

Sir Richard Attenborough
I was honoured when Ray offered me the character of General Outram in his first Hindi film Shatranj Ke Khiladi in 1977.   He had mastered every aspect of film-making from scripting, direction, to editing, cinematography and even choreography.  He had  knowledge of the Brechtian, Stanislavski, Royal Academy Of Dramatic Arts and New York Soap Opera styles of acting. He hailed me for my performance in Sand Pebbles and my direction of A Bridge Too Far and Cry Freedom.  He had certain reservations about Gandhi, which I truly respect.  I place him amongst greats like D’Sica, John Ford and Akiro Kurosawa.