My first job in what was then Bombay was with Air India. I worked there as an advertising executive from 1970 to 1981. Finally, I quit when I had to make a career choice between the job and directing Umrao Jaan. Air India was the flashiest job one could ask for, but equally stressful and challenging. On one hand, I was living a hand-to-mouth existence as all my salary went into covering the house rent but on the other, I was allowed to dream big. I loved the freedom and power it gave me. I could buy art for Air India or send people abroad. I could get a building made. Any wish I had was practically granted. Even though my interest in films had started earlier while I was assisting Satyajit Ray in Calcutta, it was at Air India that I got a working knowledge of filmmaking when I got a chance to commission an inflight film for the brand. Back then, I was preoccupied with painting. My first solo exhibition was in Calcutta in 1968, and my second one was at the Pundole art gallery in Bombay in 1972.