Which is more exciting: acting or directing?
Directing. When you are acting, you are interpreting somebody else’s vision. But when you are directing, it is your vision. It obviously excites you; otherwise, you would not go to the trouble of directing it.

How has Satyajit Ray influenced you?
He has influenced me and a whole generation of filmmakers the way a parent influences a child. He was the big figure. The point now is not to imitate him and that has been my endeavour.

Why the name 15 Park Avenue?
There is no Park Avenue in Kolkata. That is the whole point of the movie. There is a character in the film who searches for this address. Whether it exists or not, and which plane of reality it exists, that is the point of the film.

You have mentioned that this is your most honest film. What do you mean by that?
It is based on a real life person, whose identity I cannot divulge. But that person looks for an address. You are lifting it straight from reality. You never lift straight from reality. You are inspired by a real life incident and then your imagination takes over.

15 Park Avenue explores an urban sensibility. Will it appeal to the general public?
I hope so. Obviously, our kind of film is not for the general audience who go to the mainstream Hindi cinema. Although, more and more, the dividing line between mainstream and the so-called art film is blurring. Nowadays, viewers are accepting interesting subjects. It is an exciting time and all kinds of films are being made. And I think that is very encouraging.

What are your future plans?
I want to make a comedy that I have already written. I have also joined a Kolkata TV channel as a creative director and I want to make something of it.