India, Feb. 20 -- Filmmaker Shoojit Sircar, on Wednesday, during a session at the 26th Bharat Rang Mahotsav at the National School of Drama (NSD) reflected on once being too scared to enter the institute, and recalled the challenge he faced during the initial days of his career as an ad filmmaker. In conversation with NSD director and actor Chittaranjan Tripathy, he shared, "Himmat nahin hoti thi ki NSD ke gate se andar aaun. This I'm talking about early 2000s and late 90s... Aaj main jab walk karke yahan aaya toh mujhe laga ki zindagi mein kuchh achieve kiya hai jo yahan (stage) tak pahunch gaya hoon." Further, reminiscing about his mentor NK Sharma, theatre director and founder of Act One theatre group, Shoojit revealed how the teacher played a role in instilling discipline in him, which he still applies in the films that he makes today. "Whatever I have learned from him, I've applied those dynamics into films and my everyday activities. Aaj jo aap Shoojit Sircar dekh rahe hain, main usi ka hi ek part hoon." On being asked about the inspiration behind his films, the director-producer added, "Piku (2015) is someone I have seen in my family, possibly every family. Later on, people told me that there's one Piku (played by Deepika Padukone) or one Bhaskor Banerjee (played by Amitabh Bachchan) in their family. Sardar Udham (2021) happened because main Golden Temple gaya aur wahaan se walk karate huye peheli bar main Jallianwala Bagh gaya. I saw goliyon ke nishan, and came out feeling numb. Tabhi kuchh trigger hua." Reflecting on the shift from advertising to feature films, Shoojit admitted that unlearning old habits wasn't easy. "In ads, I knew exactly when to cut after 30 seconds," he said, recalling an incident from the sets of Shoebite (unreleased). "Amitabh Bachchan perform kar rahe thhe. Mere mind mein editing chal raha tha and jaise hi 30 seconds ho gaye, maine 'cut' bol diya." The cinematographer quickly questioned him, "'Tune itni jaldi cut kyu bola?'," prompting Sircar to apologise to the actor. "I then said, 'Sorry sir maine cut bola, mera bad habit hai.'"...