the fact that nothing can be more important to me than my work he saysa rare innocence most of soumitras directors say that he has a childlike innocence thats rare in an actor who has worked with the best in the field having done so much how does he retain this innocence and energy i dont really know how i do it but i do understand that art is a space where there is so much to know there is so much to be done and so little that has been done that i suppose still excites me when i come across an interesting idea he also open up about the craft of acting and how he has evolved over the years the tricky thing about acting is that it is a very openended subject with no fixed yardsticks if someone who has never acted in movies is asked about how we would fare in a film he says he has never tried it but ask the same person about playing an instrument hes never tried his hand at and he will say he has never learnt the craft of playing it for acting it is a matter of trial for others it is matter of learning the craft he explains so how do youngsters today adapt or excel in such a fluid environment they have to look back and find out what they liked in the actors whose performances have inspired them every one has to find his own path despite having done so much there are times when he is referred to as a ray protg does he feel the true evaluation of his work gets shrouded because of this ekhon ar hoy na it used to bother me a little earlier but not anymore these days i dont dwell on such issues i have done over 400 films i dont sit on the judges chair but leave the evaluation to my audience there are people who have told me that my best work was in agrodani there are others who think my best work is in koni i have reached a stage where i am not into contesting which films my viewers choose as their favourites its not easy to reach this stage of partial detachment but then here one is talking about soumitra chatterjee he is someone who insists that the route to knowing him is not by watching his movies but by reading his poems there are health concerns but the crests and troughs of life are battled at regular intervals so how does he manage to find sustenance as a parting shot he says you see i have no other option but to keep my positivity intact if i sulk and get despondent i will be finished