Top 99 Bengali Quotes

Cinematically, anything like ‘Khawto’ in Bengali cinema hasn’t happened. Yes, you get such films in Hollywood, a few in Bombay. In Bengali literature, you get such stories in the works of Samaresh Basu and Buddhadeb Guha.

Thanks to my Bengali genes I look very young.

Even in India the Hindi film industry might be the best known but there are movies made in other regional languages in India, be it Tamil or Bengali. Those experiences too are different from the ones in Bombay.

Whenever I get married, it will be a Bengali wedding. If I won’t have a Bengali wedding, my mother won’t come. She has warned me. So, I am going to have a Bengali wedding for sure.

I am half Bengali and half Marathi.

I’d say, in some ways, I’m very Bengali. I have a love of the arts – dance, music, visual arts – which I think is a very Bengali trait. I also love food, which I know is very Bengali!

I’ve more than 50 hits in Bengali cinema and it’s a great feeling to have them released separately in the form of albums that are independent of the movies.

I am ready to work in any industry whether its Bollywood, Hollywood, the digital platforms, South Indian film, or Bengali films. Wherever I get a good opportunity, I’ll be there.

I interviewed a lot of people in India, and I asked my mother to send me a lot of Bengali books on the tradition of dream interpretation. It’s a real way for me to remember how people think about things in my culture.

My father always taught me to never be quiet. That’s the good thing about a Bengali household.

I was about 12 when I first encountered ‘The Moonstone’ – or a Classics Illustrated version of it – digging through an old trunk in my grandfather’s house on a rainy Bengali afternoon.

I watch all kinds of Indian cinema. There are many good films in Bengali, Marathi and Malayalam.

After ‘Kahaani,’ I received a lot of offers for similar roles – from Hindi as well as Bengali filmmakers. But I didn’t want a repeat performance of Bob.

Earlier, people used to say no to regional films, but now people all over the world have started watching Bengali cinema.

I worked hard to reach where I am and I certainly don’t want to lose my grip over either Bengali or Hindi cinema.

As a child actor, I had sung a song in the Bengali film ‘Bhagyadebata’ but it wasn’t kept in the final edit.

I seriously think Bachchan is more Bengali than any one I know. He’s a true Bengali dada. And I’m not saying that because he has a Bengali wife or has spent time in Kolkata. There’s more of Rabindranath Tagore’s legacy in him than anyone else.

I was about 12 when I first encountered ‘The Moonstone’ – or a Classics Illustrated version of it – digging through an old trunk in my grandfather’s house on a rainy Bengali afternoon.

I had learnt horse riding while shooting for a Bengali film earlier and was trained in sword fighting on the set of ‘Manikarnika’.

At the age when Bengali youth almost inevitably writes poetry, I was listening to European classical music.

I want to work in literature-based movies in Bengal as this is the specialty of the Bengali film industry.

I like watching Bengali film DVDs with sub-titles.

I’ve done a host of Tamil and Telugu films, a Bengali one, too.

I respect Malayalam films the same way I respect Bengali films. I think Malayalam films have not compromised on the essence and have kept their own statement and are coming up with very good themes.

My father is a Malayalee, my mother is a Bengali.

I’d say, in some ways, I’m very Bengali. I have a love of the arts – dance, music, visual arts – which I think is a very Bengali trait. I also love food, which I know is very Bengali!

I like to read Bengali novels and short stories. I am not that fond of reading English books, as I don’t have a connect with it.

I ate Bengali food after my parents married and Dad started living with us, in both Willesden and in Delhi for three years, and then we all moved to California. Dad said he could make a really good dal, but I never saw him cook during the whole time we lived together.

I think Bengali women have the most eclectic sense of dressing.

Culturally, I remember listening to Salil Chowdhury’s music for Malayalam films. Many Bengali actors have worked in our films, too.

The only thing redeeming about my being born a Bengali is being brought up reading Rabindranath and Saratchandra. Other than that, the stagnancy of this city put me off all along.

I have regional films, Bengali and Telugu, but always wanted to do a Marathi film especially because I think this industry makes the best comedy films.

Bengali movies are a great form of cinema too. Interestingly, they work with lower budgets.

I like all kinds of food, but if I had to choose a favourite Indian cuisine, it would absolutely be Bengali! I love things like masoor dal with begun bhaja – or any type of bhaja, really – machher jhol, bhapa chingri. And how can you beat gorom, gorom rosogolla?

I am half Bengali and half Marathi.

My father is a Malayalee, my mother is a Bengali.

I am songwriter. I do compose the music of songs that I write in Bengali. But I’ve never thought of composing for a film. That’s a different art altogether.

Bengali women have a lot of sensual appeal.

When I was selected as a Labour council candidate in 2009, people publicly challenged how I could possibly represent anyone from the Bengali community because of my faith and since my selection and election as the member of parliament for Liverpool, Wavertree, I have received a torrent of anti-Semitic abuse.

People think that just because I live in Mumbai, I’m not interested in Bengali films. But I want to act more in Tollywood because roles here are meatier.

How can BJP be anti-Bangla when BJP founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee himself was a Bengali?

Although several actors have worked in films down South, I feel unsure of whether I will be able to emote and act as exuberantly as I do in Hindi and Bengali films.

I was born in Bangalore but grew up in Kolkata and I read, write and speak Bengali.

We even had a different word for Christmas in my language, Bengali: Baradin, which literally meant ‘big day.’

I like watching Bengali film DVDs with sub-titles.

I see a lot of similarity between Bengali and Malayalam films regarding the basic emotions, the craftsmanship, art and performance. I also feel both the industries are very true to their art and culture.

I feel I can express the nuances of the Bengali lifestyle and ways of thinking better than other cultures.

I speak Tamil and Telugu better than Bengali.

The Mumbai film industry has definitely a bigger reach. But considering the rich content of work in many Bengali films, even by new directors, there has to be a better financially backed distribution model for films here.

I’ve done a lot of Bengali films with heavyweights like Rituparna Ghosh, Buddhadeb Das Gupta and carved my niche with both commercial as well as art films.

I would happily do any Malayalam or Bengali film, if the script is good and I get a good challenge as an actor.

I have not planned my Bollywood career the way I have planned my career in Bengali films.

It is true that there are some surface similarities between my mother and Mrinalini’s character since both were successful commercial actresses in the 1970s in Bengali cinema. In that sense I have taken cues from my mother about how to portray the younger Mrinalini.

Even in India the Hindi film industry might be the best known but there are movies made in other regional languages in India, be it Tamil or Bengali. Those experiences too are different from the ones in Bombay.

As I grew, I began learning and speaking a word or two in Bengali and that increased my friends circle.

I tapped into my potential in Bengali films, which I don’t think directors in Bollywood were able to understand.

My memory of my household is of one immersed in books and music. I have a very intimate relationship with Bengali literature, particularly Tagore, and my interest besides reading then was music.

My father always taught me to never be quiet. That’s the good thing about a Bengali household.

My parents being Bengali, we always had music in our house. My nani was a trained classical singer, who taught my mum, who, in turn, was my first teacher. Later I would travel almost 70 kms to the nearest town, Kota, to learn music from my guru Mahesh Sharmaji, who was also the principal of the music college there.

I’ve been greatly influenced by the music of R.D. Burman and Sudhin Dasgupta, and I took it as a challenge to bring back the golden days of Bengali music.

I have a connection with Bengali heroines. I have worked with Tanushree Dutta and Bipasha Basu.

When a director is remaking a film, he should tweak it, add Bengali sentiments to it and make it look like a regional movie. A copy-paste job is something I don’t support at all.

Originally Jagte Raho was offered to Satyajit Ray to direct but he wasn’t available. That’s why the whole crew was Bengali in the film because Dada was supposed to direct it.