My first meeting with Salim dates back to when he was a student at the Film and Television Institute of India [FTII]. He was Naseeruddin Shah’s contemporary. I did some work with Salim, including Manthan [1976], when he was a student. Girish Karnad, who was the FTII director at the time, had told me that I should try working with these wonderful actors.

After he passed out of the FTII, we all saw the wonderful actor that Salim had grown into. He was a disciplined actor who would come thoroughly prepared on sets. In Sardari Begum [1996], he played a Bengali character called Mr Sen. He would do background research and homework before shooting for every role. He did not require many rehearsals, and would go straight in for a dead letter-perfect take. He was part of many episodes of Bharat Ek Khoj. His flawless soliloquy as Lord Krishna from the Bhagavad Gita remains with me to this day. It was a fine performance, and he gave a several-minute-long speech in a single take.