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Though Rahul Bose is
saddled with the image of a sober, introvert and sensitive character
in film after film, his role in The Whisperers is in contrast
to earlier films. V. Ananth talks to him
on his transformation from a tough rugby player to an actor playing
soft characters
Rahul Bose is an actor with multiple facets, with head held high in the sky and feet firmly rooted to the earth. He has a list of achievements in his kitty, which can make many high-profile people look at him in awe. He has brought laurels to India, not only in field of cinema but also in sports as a rugby player, who represented our country. He has a number of international film awards to his credit, besides international recognition to his films not only as an actor, but also as a director. At the launch of his latest film, The Whisperers, he talked about it and shared his thoughts on various topics. At the outset, when asked about the film, he replied: The Whisperers is an English film, in which Manoj Bajpai and I play the lead characters. Manoj Bajpai and I are appearing for the first time together in a film. I am involved in this project from its conceptual stage, in the sense that I have written the screenplay of the film too." Rahul adds, that though he has been saddled with the image of a sober, introvert and sensitive character in film after film, his character in The Whisperers will be a sort of surprise, in contrast to his earlier films. "I play a character who is very talkative and can talk endlessly for hours. In fact I play literally a chatterbox." Rahul is quite gung ho about the project. "We all make choices in life, and face the consequences thereof. This is a story of choice and its consequences. It is a dark psychological thriller played out against the backdrop of one man’s life, his rise to fame and his fall from grace. It is a story of complicated emotions and psychology of human mind. Rahul admits that he shares a great deal of comfort level with producer Ashok Rao, a US-based serial entrepreneur, who is also involved in a crossover romantic comedy called My Bollywood Wife and Amelia Earhart, a biopic on the life of America’s greatest aviatrix. "In fact Ashok was not the only person I had approached. Two more persons were interested in the project, but I decided to go for Ashok because he appeared to be equally enthusiastic and passionate about the project, and we started sharing a great comfort level." Rahul is quite happy working under the direction of Rajeev Virani. Says Rahul, "Rajeev is a successful film, music video maker. He has established his credentials in multiple camera productions, like sports event for sports channel ESPN, style magazines, talk shows, etc. The film The Whisperers is going to be launched in November 2005 and will be readied for release by the second quarter of 2006." Rahul who is on a spree of making waves in film festivals, bagging awards, is of the opinion that these all are very humbling experiences. Says Rahul, "Going to film festivals is more like being yourself, meeting friends, enjoying yourself, that’s it, and achievements, if any, are an icing on the cake." He concedes that though awards are important, he is happy that slowly but steadily, Indian cinema is going global because it’s good for our industry on the whole. When asked, "You have represented India in rugby, which is a game of toughies, and carry an image as an actor of a very soft, lovable, sensitive, and compassionate character. How difficult has the transformation been for him switching over from a tough player to an actor playing soft characters?" Rahul replied "It is not difficult, because we all play different roles in life, which might be contradictory in nature, effectively. We may be loving and doting fathers at home and a stern boss, at the same time, in the office but we could be equally effective in both our roles. It’s all within us, so it doesn’t require much effort to make a switchover from one role to another. It’s all within us." How does he describe his journey as a person in the industry after working with filmmakers ranging from Govind Nihalani to Aparna Sen who hail from the Satyajit Ray school of filmmaking? Pat comes the reply: "There is nothing dramatic in it, since I am of the opinion that the process of this graduation has been gradual in a very, very natural way." — MF |
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