'METRO... IN DINO IS THE LIFE I HAVE LIVED'

'Very rarely does a film give you the opportunity to do this, I was constantly improving and adding scenes on the set.’

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He points out that he is not a businessman who has to make and release a film in nine months. He is happy to wait. For his actors. And even for his daughters, Ishana and Ahana. Pointing out that you can only mould a child's personality till they are in the 12th standard, Anurag Basu shares that his wife and collaborator Tani and he took a conscious decision to slow down the pace of their work.

In the first of a two-part interview, the writer-producer-director says, "Now that my younger daughter has completed her 12th standard, you will see a film from me every year-and-a-half." "When you are playing a long innings, you have to pace yourself. It's like cricket, you know you have to make this many runs in this many overs and can afford to go slow for a few overs in the middle, provided you pick up pace later."

What do you remember from Life In A... Metro, which got you your first Filmfare nomination for Best Director and won you a Black Lady for Best Screenplay?

I have very few friends and one of them was Bobby Singh, the cinematographer of Gangster who also shot Life In A... Metro. He is no longer with us, I miss him. Also, Rajat Poddar, my art director and production designer, whom we lost last year. He had been with me since my television days. Ajay, my assistant editor, also passed, all three were a part of my core team. Another friend Irrfan Khan, who played the irrepressible Monty, also went away too soon, as did KK who came down from Pune to sing Alvida and O Meri Jaan. I don't remember much from the film, but I remember these friends. We were a close-knit unit.

And Metro... In Dino?