"I do not feel it necessary for others to agree with my opinion. I would stick to my own views and would let them stick to theirs. But I am merciless about one thing. If on seeing a film, I get the feeling that the filmmaker has no love for the people and he is only making a false show of it, I fail to compromise with the person let alone forgive him. And in this matter, I make no distinction between a friend and foe. I firmly believe that some powerful filmmakers are at present working against the interests of the masses."

"As an artist I believe in struggle, struggle for dream fulfillment. It is difficult to explain this to others. Anyway, I do not feel the need to explain either. There is no politics in this, and neither is there any quarrel. This is a matter of hard work. I do not know whether I shall ever succeed. Till now I have not succeeded. If I ever do you will see."

"Technique has no independent existence. We have no knowledge of language when we come out of the mother's womb. We gather the knowledge as we grow up. Why? To express our feelings. Language has no value unless used to express our feelings of joy and anger. Language is learnt to express these explicitly.... Primarily it is a question of emotion, and that is the driving force. The entire thing stems out of emotion. Emotion is something that one either has or has not. It comes from within. This is true of all arts even if people do not accept it."

"Film is not made, it is built. I am not a film director but a film builder. One creates a film. Satyajit and Mrinal Sen are creators, they are not (mere) film directors... One creates, one composes."

"There is this is all my films. You may call it romantic--I may be romantic. Civilization does not die. It changes (form) but is eternal. Paddy has grown where Titas had been. It means that another new civilization has taken birth. Man is mortal but the human race is immortal. It moves from one phase to anoter. That is what I mean to say. I can't end in a pessimistic mood. That would not be the truth."

"To say film is a visual art is itself a misnomer. It is an audio-visual art so both aspects are equally important. There are many other elements which you have not mentioned like acting. The filmmaker tries to combine all these elements and present one figure. Ideally speaking that should be the attempt. No single element should dominate the other. They together create an impression on the audience's mind. There is no such thing as 'the most important'. At one place acting becomes important, at some place drama becomes important, at another place the visual becomes important, somewhere music is important. And what is not understood by people is that somewhere silence and non-action also play a great part. Silence is an extremely important element of the soundtrack. I can expand on this for hours together. Non-action is also extremely important. No drama, no nothing and suddenly everything is halted. It creates a tremendous effect. I can cit thousands of instances from the great masters. So you see, each element has its place in the total scheme of things."

"Film language is a universal language but at the same time it is very national. So these two have to be blended together by taking the symbols and archetypes of our country."

"Stress on form alone is a very wrong way of looking at things. Because art lies in considering art. That is the primary point. If art is apparent and looms large it takes away the pureness and all that lies in content. If you are only conscious of the form it will loom large like a sore boil. But if you immerse yourself in the content--sound will emerge, images will emerge, form will emerge automatically. You will not have to think of form. So and so is using brown so let me use blue-- that is a very superficial approach to life. If your mind thinks, looks at the subject and finds him blue, of course you make him blue, but that must be apparent in the art work. The passions must be there, just form does not matter."

"The basic essence of a child is wonderment. Everything is new to him-- the earth, the breeze, the trees. Everything is new. He looks with wonderment at every phenomenon around him. It is imprinted in him. He reacts much more. A true artist's job is the same. See, an artist has to retain the ability, the quality of wonderment at things. As we grow up considerations of livelihood, money, domestic worries, petty rivalries-- all these things make the ordinary man, who is not an artist, engrossed in mundane things. He constantly loses the ability to wonder. And without wonderment no art is possible. That is an artist's basic secret. Chaplin had it in abundance, and Eisenstein no less."

"You see, I agree with Jean-Luc Godard that anything which seems to an artist to be capable of conveying his messge is entirely valid--be it song or dance or newspaper headlines or commentaries or just about anything! Artistic validity is the only criterion.
Besides, in our country from time immemorial songs have played a very important part in all our creative arts. If these dream-merchants misuse them today, that is no reason why I should refrain from using them in my films."

"The secret of good filmmaking is editing. This calls for an uncanny sense of timing. Satyajit Ray is the only director in India who has it.
Filmmaking is a highly mechanical process, where sudden burst of imagination or inspiration are virtually non-existant. It is veritably a matter of emotion recollected in tranquility, that is, everything is planned out long before the actual process of filming."

"In art, nothing is modern. If someone takes credit for having done something very 'modern' he is a fool, and he lives in a fool's paradise. Art eternally goes on changing forms, and all kinds of forms have been applied, experimented with and exhausted, we are only reinventing it, that is all."

"I cannot think of myself without the epic tradition. I am all for it. It is in our civilization since time immemorial, In my films I rely mainly on the folk form. The Great Mother image in its duality exists in every aspect of our being. I have incorportated this in Meghe Dhaka Tara and also in Jukti Takko aar Gappo."

"I keep in mind the people and the type of their joy and sorrows. And I try to express these to the best of my ability . The people of my country are my only concern. I am bothered about nothing else. I would not care even if the people of this country reject me. People are my only concern. What else do I have?"

"It is important to portray different aspect of human life. The medium of expression is not important. Love for people is what matters. It is not enough to exist somehow. That is not life. One has to love wholeheartedly."

"Actually, my films give me pleasure. Pleasure is the source of all art. I have found pleasure. Secondly, unless one has the desire to do well to others no work can be donee. Without a passionate love for the people, can anyone do any work? But there is no contradiction between the two. As an artist why won't I love? Hence, there is no inherent contradiction between the two."

"Mine is a combination of trends set by Flaherty and Grierson. Basil Wright created this style while making Night Mail, Song of Ceylon etc. I simply worship that person. Love (for the people) is the main ingredient of documentary films. Without love for the people, one cannot do any work. It is generally believed that I am a feature filmmaker but have you noticed that I have never lost sight of the people? Have I ever shut myself within the four walls of the studio?
I do not differentiate between documentary and feature film. I do not think documentary films are anything special. They are documents of human life. Documentary film and feature film merge into each other once one can love the people."

"An artist can approach a problem in two ways--either as a journalist would do or like a novelist. The latter has a lasting value. This requires time so that a proper estimate of the situation can be made and the experiences that are earned can be properly organized. One has to think deeply for that. It takes two, three years, four years and then only you can make such a film, otherwise you cannot be honest. I do not like the journalistic approach. I wish to delve deep."