"Initially Satyajit Ray was concerned about how to transform Premchand's long short story into a film. So when he called to seek permission to make the film he happily agreed," recalled Alok Rai, Premchand's grandson. Shabana Azmi recalled her excitement at being part of a Ray film. She met him at Tehran film festival but did not have the courage to ask about her role. "When a story is turned to a film, the discourse is on how much is lost in the process.

Source: The Telegraph January 29, 2018 20:37 UTC