Pankaj Kapoor

"Pankaj was an NSD (National School of Drama, in New Delhi) product. I met him through a play called The Fool, which is a very complex play," Barry says. "Raghuvir Yadav was also in the play. In fact, I gave Raghuvir the protagonist's role. Until then, Raghuvir had never played the lead because of his small-town, folk theatre background. He was usually the singer and dancer.

"Pankaj played his friend, in another important role," Barry continues. "He was very focused, intense and emotional. His role could not have been played by anyone else. Sulekha Sukri played his wife. She was very a powerful actor too.

"It was a memorable production," he adds. "Pankaj was very reliable. I haven't seen his movies recently but I've heard his Blue Umbrella and Dharam are good."

Mira Nair

"There's a lot that I don't know about Mira," Barry says. "She was a college student in those days. She was a star in the college plays. She played Cleopatra in Anthony and Cleopatra. It was an awful production but she sailed through it with aplomb."

Mira left TAG to go to America to pursue acting.

"The next thing I heard was that she got involved with a photographer, and switched to photography, and then film direction. Soon, she was on her way back to film Salaam Bombay. I held workshops with the children in the film," says Barry.

Also read: Aaja Nachle's music should've been better

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