The late Satyajit Ray and Ali Fazal are separated by generations. But tales have a way of uniting those who can’t be brought together by time. Such is the timeless appeal of the writer-filmmaker’s stories that they continue to be revisited decade on decade, with every generation discovering something new to marvel at. With the Netflix anthology `Ray`, Fazal — a self-admitted novice in Ray’s world — reinterprets the celebrated writer’s short story, Bipin Chowdhuryr Smritibhrom. While the original story revolved around a Kolkata-based bibliophile with a photographic memory, the reimagining — titled Forget Me Not — sees the actor play the rich and successful Ipsit Nair who is famed for his sharp memory.

“It is a demanding role emotionally as well as physically. My prep revolved around [familiarising myself] with the world of Ipsit and his people. We are all made up of a little bit of those around us, people we encounter from childhood to adulthood. So, I tried to be observant while taking each day as it came,” says Fazal, describing his first collaboration with noted Bengali director Srijit Mukherji as “therapeutic”. Besides Forget Me Not, the anthology series consists of Manoj Bajpayee’s Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa, Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor’s Spotlight and Kay Kay Menon’s Bahrupiya.