/> Toronto is one of Rahul Bose's favourite cities. They're holding a retrospective of Rahul Bose's seven films.

"I'll never forget Toronto. My directorial debut Everybody Says I'm Fine was screened there a day after 9/11. I thought no one would come. But the screening was crammed full. The retrospective is such a wonderful way to reach 40."

"And guess what? It starts on July 27. They don't know that it's my birthday and that they're unknowingly giving me a present."

The retrospective in Toronto is called Masala Mehndi Masti. "I'm disproportionately flattered. They said they chose me for a retrospective because I'm representative of that urban Indian culture. They said they found my movies representative of modern urban India.

Whether it's the socially important Mr Ya Mrs Iyer, my first big commercial foray Takshak, the wry semi-urban fable English, August. a witty songless entertainer like Pyar Ke Side Effects or Split Wide Open which pre-empts the water scarcity....there are all modern fables."

Getting progressively excited Rahul says, "And guess what? Buddhadeb Dasgupta's unreleased Kaal Purush which represents the Ray brand of cinema is also part of the package."

Rahul will also conduct a seminar on cinema during the festival. "While I hate to theorize about acting I'll be propounding this whole theory that acting doesn't have to be a serious business. It can be fun while being serious. I'll be talking about the sheer joy of creating the character."

Another activity that Rahul looks forward to at the Masala Mehndi Masti festival is a freewheeling discussion with Cameron Bailey who's one of the programmers of the Toronto International Festival. "We'll talk about my work in the discussion."

Rahul earlier had a retrospective of five films his cinema in Geneva in 2003. "Again it was held at a very cosmopolitan city. That was a mini-retro. But this one in Toronto is the real McCoy."

And then he jokes, "I think they're putting a lid on my career. By 49 they want me to kick the bucket. Incidentally I'm going back to Toronto in September with Santosh Sivan's Before The Rains. Now you know why I love this city."