Writer Sujit Sen had recommended me to Basuda for Byomkesh Bakshi. When I met him, he was thoroughly prepared with the script of 30-plus episodes. The fictional Bengali detective, created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay, may be a top-notch sleuth, but in Basuda's world, he was without frills or overt gestures.

Since Basuda had written the script, he asked me to tell him if I found anything wrong with the [construction] of the Hindi [dialogues]. Even though it was my first collaboration with him, I was not apprehensive. In our first meeting, he had clearly told me his vision — keep it simple, and I followed his advice.