Kolkata: Noted actor Soumitra Chatterjee has said that if given a second chance, he would have still preferred to be an actor.

Asked if he would have chosen anything else other than acting if given another chance, Chatterjee said he had reached that phase in life where he can't turn to anything else other than acting.

"Had I been given an alternative option, I would still prefer to be an actor," he said.

Chatterjee, who was interacting with the audience at the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet here last evening, said he also "Loves doing other things too. Like writing".

Several books of poems of Chatterjee have been published in the past.

To another question about what renowned filmmaker Satyajit Ray was to him, the 'Apur Sansar' actor said, "He had been a mentor for me. I learnt so many things. Probably, I came to see life in a different light by coming near him."

Chatterjee, who had acted in 14 films directed by Ray including the third part of Apu trilogy 'Apur Sansar' said, "Not a day passes when I do not remember him (Ray)."

"He remains a perennial inspiration, more than a mentor, director...more than a friend. He is so much alive to me till this date," the veteran actor said.

Talking about his voice-over as Amit in the 70s' radio play 'Sesher Kobita' based on Rabindranath Tagore's novel, Chatterjee said, "Tagore had changed his literary style 5-6 times."

"Many things become irrelevant with the passage of time. But Tagore's works defy age. Twelve years before death he could come up with new ideas. I think Tagore could have got the Nobel prize in literature for the second time for his collection of short stories 'Galpo Guccho'," the Dadasaheb Phalke recipient said.  PTI