Muzaffar Ali recently weaved magic with his words at a literary festival in Kolkata. From sharing why Kolkata is significant for him to what went into finding his Umrao Jaan and why he is staying away from filmmaking, the 78-year-old actor-filmmaker-poet-designer touched upon topics close to his heart. Excerpts from his session and a chat with CT:

I got my first complex, cultural and professional exposure in Kolkata. Wherever I go, I go with a clean mind and when I came to Kolkata, I came with nothing but just Ghalib’s famous quote – Kalkatte ka jo zikr kiya tune humnashi, ek teer mere seene mein maara. I slowly began discovering the many layers of Kolkata, which I have never found in any other city. I got exposure to a more practical world, a world trying to make a difference through commerce, politics and at the same time helping me find myself. Kolkata in that sense became a significant place for me. Mumbai was as astounding as Kolkata, but one must come from Kolkata to understand Mumbai. And here I am not talking about the Bombay of business people, I am talking about the Bombay of the soul.

Kolkata is and was history in the making. It is a culturally rich city; it has always had a sense of poetry and appreciation for art, which still continues. It is a revolutionary place, and one must live here to understand the essence of the city. I have lived here for two-three years, and the city gave me so much. Kolkata is a place that challenges you, probes you, makes you think and makes you do things. Coming to its food, I don’t think there is anything like the kathi rolls of Kolkata. I first had them in the 1960s at a famous food joint in central Kolkata.

The ecosystem in Mumbai currently is not conducive for filmmakers to make movies; boycott culture comes much later in the scene. Me staying away from filmmaking has got nothing to do with boycotts. People should respect your taste and not think that your work isn’t commercial enough. Art is commercialized in India. The way money is handling art is not the way art should be handled. More than censorship, what is important is the freedom of art. The artist needs to feel a sense of elation with his art and expression.

Casting of Rekha was another phenomenon. It was not easy to find Umrao Jaan, but I was lucky to find some photographs and after seeing them I was sure that Rekha’s eyes were the eyes that could tell the story I wanted to. However, transforming a woman into a character that could rule over the hearts of many was not easy. A lot of effort by many people had gone into bringing out the sensitive grace that Umrao Jaan needed – it required patience and creativity.