In Photos: The stories behind the big films

Filmmaker Aparna Sen and actor Shabana Azmi (right) have a chat on the set of the former’s Bengali film Sati in 1989. The narrative revolved around speaking up against orthodox, gender-biased Hindu customs

Actor Amjad Khan shooting for Shatranj Ke Khilari, which is Satyajit Ray’s first Hindi feature film. The historical drama which released in 1977 saw the actor essay the role of Wajid Ali Shah, a nawab more interested in the arts than governance and statesmansip

A still from the day filmmaker Satyajit Ray kept Bollywood star Shatrughan Sinha waiting off  his film set so that he could can a shot without any ‘distractions’. Seen in the frame are (from left) Ray, Sinha and actor Soumitra Chatterjee

Actors Om Puri, Shabana Azmi and Patrick Swayze shooting for the film City of Joy in 1992

Actor Smita Patil tries her hand at photography on the set of the film Sadgati

Actor Utpal Dutt (extreme right) clicked during an interview

Director Mehboob Khan (extreme left) on the set of his film Mother India, with his actors Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Nargis, in 1956

Actor Amitabh Bachchan in conversation with director Hrishikesh Mukherjee (extreme left) and Vinod Mehra on the sets of Jurmana in 1979

Actors Naseeruddin Shah (extreme right) and Rekha interact with director Muzaffar Ali on the sets of Umrao Jaan in 1981

Actor-director Guru Dutt and actor Mala Sinha on a film set

Actor Shivaji Ganesan is in the midst of applying makeup for his 1958 mythological film  Kathavarayan, directed by TR Ramana, in which he played the title role

Actor Asokan (extreme left) observes as director AC Tirulokchandar hurls a fake punch at his co-star CL Anandan (extreme right) during a rehearsal shot on the set of a film in the 1960s

A 15-year-old Sridevi observes as a smiling P Bharatiraja—the director of her Tamil film 16 Vayathinile in 1977—strikes up a conversation with K Raghavendra Rao (extreme right) who helmed the Telugu remake of the same film

Actor-politician MG Ramachandran captures his co-star J Jayalithaa on camera in between shots of the romantic drama Raman Thediya Seethai directed by P Neelakantan, in 1971

(From left) Actors MG Ramachandran and Savitri Ganesan (third from left) pose with fans during a film shoot

Actors NT Rama Rao (extreme left) and Devika on the set of the Telugu film Pendli Pilupu in 1961

Actor Savitri Ganesan with (seated, from left) director KV Reddy and cinematographer Marcus Bartley on the set of the Telugu film Mayabazar in 1957