In 1958, when I was 17, cinema was too distant to engage my imagination. However, I was deeply fascinated by the language of theatre and its many dimensions. I wrote, directed and acted in many plays. The breaking-up of joint families, unemployment, social inequalities—these were the complex issues I was keen to explore. When I look back, I think of those efforts as amateurish—the works of a beginner, a learner.