Q. What were the early influences on your work?
Ans - There is a lot of Bengali influence in my art. The leftist movement that reached its peak in West Bengal in the 1940s influenced my early works. There was passion in the air, a desire to change the world. In later years, my art became more personalized and subtle. But in the early days, there was no escaping the political influence of the leftist movement. There was a lot of unrest in the air. Partition, famine, and the food movement all left their mark.

Q. What was the origin of the progressive art movement in India?
Ans - Modern art emerged in the wake of the British colonial regime. On the one hand, the British disrupted traditional art practice, but on the other hand, the emerging historical and socio-political conditions made Western perceptions and skills associated with the Indian creative process. Socio-political reasons affected art in all countries, and India was no exception, though the perception had changed. Social and political thematic content had replaced the old religiosity.

Q. Do you think then that the modern art movement was a reaction against the British Raj?
Ans - In a sense, against Western art. The British introduced art training in this country, not for creative reasons. They wanted skilled designers and draughtsmen for their administrative posts. They had no clear notion of traditional Indian art and considered it primitive. Consequently, Western naturalistic art permeated through various institutions. In Calcutta and other cities, naturalistic or realistic art spread like wildfire. There were some extremely skilled Bengali artists. Some went abroad to acquire further skills. The subject matter of their works was portraiture and landscape. It characterized the British academic school of art. The urban rich patronized it. The medium was mainly watercolor, oil, or pastel; however, there was also lithography, etching, and woodcuts. This school was intertwined with traditional Indian styles such as miniature paintings and folk art and developed into a hybrid art.

Q. Who were the first modern Indian artists?
Ans - Rabindranath Tagore founded Kala Bhavan in 1919 and it became the center of art movements. There, traditional Indian art was fused with Southeast Asian oriental art, contemporary Western art, and above all, the dynamism of life, and Kala Bhavan became the heart of the creative circuit. A new dialogue in art was opened between Santiniketan and Western Europe on the one hand, and China and Japan on the other. An emerging style in murals came to reign and a new perception of fine art developed there. Nandalal Bose and his two disciples Ramkinkar Baij and Benodebehari Mukherjee triggered the whole process. I consider Tagore to be the first truly modern painter. Amrita Shergil and Jamini Roy can also be named. Amrita Sher Gill was a talented artist. She learned at an art school in Paris and drew some bold portraits early in her career. Later, miniatures of Pahari and Ajanta fascinated her. Jamini Roy was also an academic realist in his early stages and passed through the realm of French Impressionism. Finally, he turned to the folk art of rural Bengal. The movement was driven by most of the artists who lived and worked in post-independence India, particularly in the sixties, and who introduced new perceptions and styles into Indian art. They are now spread all over Calcutta, Bombay, Delhi and Baroda. They did not imbibe Western art directly. They were based on their native soil, understood modernism for themselves, and developed its forms and content independently.

Q. How did the Progressive Art Movement react to the political and social unrest in the country?
Ans - The context was relevant. There was no way we could escape its influence. That was one of the reasons why the Progressive Art Movement completely rejected the Western style of painting and adopted traditional motifs and contemporary subjects. We rejected the use of Western language in our work. There was a need to adopt a uniquely Indian approach to art, which had been annihilated and suppressed under British rule. To be global, you don't need to do something that imitates America, Australia, or England. You need to have authenticity, which is not what blind imitation allows.

Q. There is a strong figurative component in your work, but over the years the figure has become smaller and more subdued?
Ans - In the early years, my works were based entirely on reality, so every detail was captured on the canvas. Everything was painted after observing it in its natural environment. Now there is no longer a need to capture images entirely in their natural environment. My purpose is to hide some parts because if the whole figure is shown, the interest in the details is lost. Before, the desire to show reality was greater. Now, in some parts, there is a certain detachment from reality. Before, I drew even in a crowd. Now, I need to work in solitude. I cannot draw if there are guests or relatives in the house. I feel a distracting vibration. There is a certain power in the stillness of an object. Stillness is a form of speed without force. It is the stillness that can create greater tension in a work of art. Life is a mystery and inexplicable. A given situation can only be explained. In such circumstances, there is a tension that may be apparent, but for me, that is what is real. It is this factor that drives me to conceive a magical situation that is similar to magical realism.

Q. Are there many elements of nature in your art too?
Ans - Man's conflicted relationship with nature has affected the graceful and symmetrical beauty of leaves and flowers and has attracted elements of violence, threat, or aggression. It is this world of arbitrary creativity and vitality of nature that has shaped my perception of nature. I take liberties with the shapes and contours of flowers, creepers, and leaves, reshaping them according to the dictates of your will.

Q. You paint very little in oils, unlike other contemporary Indian artists. Why?
Ans - Oil is not my forte, but I return to it from time to time because, unlike ink works, for which I feel spontaneously, oil works require me to get involved. Also, it depends largely on my mood. It's not just about making figures or clothes, it's about making drawings of figures or clothes that have a purpose, which is important.