"The intrinsic belief in diversity that the film industry displays at all levels -- both seen and unseen -- has to do with excellence behind the camera and charisma in front it," Bose said at the 21st Kolkata International Film Festival.

"The film industry has always looked at these two qualities and rewarded it. Your caste, your religion, your gender, the ethnic mix does not matter. In fact, the last 100 years have shown that it does not matter at all," he said.

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Bose was delivering the Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture and discussed "Cinema and its place in civilisation".

Citing examples of Ray and his films, Bose alluded to the "unparalleled density of humanism" that the auteur's films exhibited.

He also likened the link between cinema and society as that of siblings.

"Cinema, as younger siblings do, will hang on to every word and action of the society. It will proclaim judgment of it, decide it can do things better but always derive inspiration from it," he added.