Rahul Bose

Indian film actor and politician

Rahul Bose (born 27 July 1967) is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, social activist, and athlete. Bose is the President of Indian Rugby Football Union. He has appeared in Bengali films such as Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, Kalpurush, Anuranan, Antaheen, Laptop and The Japanese Wife. He has also appeared in Hindi films such as Pyaar Ke Side Effects, Maan Gaye Mughal e Azam, Jhankaar Beats, Kucch Luv Jaisaa, Dil Dhadakne Do, Chameli and Shaurya. He also played the antagonist in the Tamil thriller Vishwaroopam (2013) and its sequel. Time magazine named him "the superstar of Indian arthouse cinema" while Maxim named him "the Sean Penn of Oriental cinema" for his work in parallel cinema films like English, August and Mr. and Mrs. Iyer. He is also notable for his social activism: he participated in the relief efforts that followed the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and is also the founder of the anti discrimination NGO, The Foundation.

In 2003, Bose entered mainstream Bollywood cinema with Jhankaar Beats in which he played one of two friends, R. D. Burman fans who are obsessed with winning a music competition. Boosted by a successful soundtrack, Jhankaar Beats was a surprise hit in urban multiplexes and went on to win several awards for its music. The same year, Bose appeared in another Bollywood film, Mumbai Matinee which saw a UK release. He starred in Chameli opposite Kareena Kapoor, playing a wealthy chain smoking Mumbai banker who is stranded in the monsoon rains with a prostitute. The film was not a box office success, but won several Filmfare and IIFA awards. He was the screenwriter of Hero Bhakti Hi Shakti Hai of Hungama TV in 2005. Bose's second film pairing with Konkona Sen Sharma, 15 Park Avenue released in January 2006. Directed by Aparna Sen and filmed in English, 15 Park Avenue won the 2006 National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English. With his next effort, the romantic comedy Pyaar Ke Side Effects, Bose moved once more into mainstream Bollywood cinema. The film follows the rocky relationship of Bose's commitment phobic Mumbai DJ Sid and his Punjabi girlfriend, Trisha played by Mallika Sherawat. Critics noted the freshness of Bose's narration style which involves breaking the fourth wall, a device not commonly used in Indian cinema. The film opened well in multiplexes and was a moderate financial success, eventually ranking among the top grossing films of 2006. Both Bose and Sherawat received positive reviews for their performances. Sherawat and Bose also starred together in another Bollywood comedy, Maan Gaye Mughal e Azam (2008), which was a commercial and critical failure. In 2006, Bose starred in the first of a trio of Bengali films, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury's Anuranan. Anuranan was well received on the festival circuit and ran successfully for three months in Bengal. It was then dubbed into Hindi and released nationally. Kaalpurush, Bose's second Bengali film, was released commercially in April 2008. Kaalpurush details a father son relationship and earned writer director Buddhadeb Dasgupta a National Film Award for Best Feature Film. Bose teamed with Chowdhury again in 2009 for Antaheen which tells the story of online relationships. Like Anuranan, Antaheen was released commercially in West Bengal and was screened at various film festivals, including the Mahindra Indo American Arts Council Film Festival (MIACC) and the International Film Festival of India (IFFI). Antaheen went on to win several National Awards including one for Best Film. Bose continued working in a mix of mainstream and arthouse films in 2008, with the English language film, Before the Rains. Before the Rains was released in the US and the UK and Bose's performance was praised by many critics, although the film received mixed reviews. Bose also appeared in Shaurya, a military court room drama modelled on the American film A Few Good Men. Bose's performance was well received; critic Taran Adarsh said his "performance easily ranks as one of his finest works". His appearance in Dil Kabaddi paired him with Konkona Sen Sharma for the third time, this time playing a husband and wife undergoing marital difficulties. The Japanese Wife, with Japanese actress Chigusa Takaku, the third Aparna Sen film in which he has appeared, released on 9 April 2010. He also appeared as a contestant in the reality show Khatron Ke Khiladi where he was eliminated in the 12th round. He hosted the second series of Bloomberg UTV reality show The Pitch. His role as a gay man harassed by the police in I Am was appreciated by critics. He appeared in Deepa Mehta's version of Midnight's Children where he played the role of General Zulfikar. He also played the villain in the 2013 Tamil film Vishwaroopam. He was scheduled to begin shooting his adaptation of Mohsin Hamid's novel, Moth Smoke in early 2010, but the project was postponed after the film's financial backers pulled out. In 2013, he also played opposite Konkona Sen Sharma again in Suman Mukhopadhyay's Shesher Kabita. In 2017, he directed, produced and acted in the biopic Poorna about the youngest girl to climb Mount Everest.

In 1998, Bose was part of the first Indian national rugby team to play in an international event, the Asian Rugby Football Union Championship. He has played both scrum half and right winger positions. In an interview with Daily News & Analysis, Bose announced that he would not return to the team for the 2009 season.

Bose assisted in the relief efforts in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. As a result of this work, Bose launched the Andaman and Nicobar Scholarship Initiative through his NGO, The Foundation. The scholarship program provides for the education of underprivileged children from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Bose is associated with several charitable organizations such as Teach for India, Akshara Centre, Breakthrough, Citizens for Justice and Peace and the Spastics Society of India. He is closely associated with the Teach For India movement to eradicate inequity in education. In addition, he became the first Indian Oxfam global ambassador in 2007. He is the founder and chairman of The Group of Groups, an umbrella organisation for 51 Mumbai charitable organisations and NGOs. He is also an ambassador for the American India Foundation, the World Youth Peace Movement and Planet Alert. He was also a vocal proponent of Narmada Bachao Andolan and its efforts to halt the construction of the Narmada dam. He also recorded the Terre des hommes audio book Goodgoodi karna, gale lagana; Sparsh ke niyam sikhiye (English: Tickle and hugs: Learning the touching rules), which is designed to give children resources against sexual abuse. Bose has given lectures on gender equality and human rights at Oxford and during the 2004 World Youth Peace Summit. and demonstrated with protesters at the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit. In 2011, he worked in conjunction with Bhaichung Bhutia to raise funds for victims of the Sikkim earthquake. At the 8th convocation of BRAC University Bangladesh on 17 February 2013, Bose delivered the convocation speech.

Bose has one elder sister, Anuradha, who is married to Tariq Ansari, the owner and director of Mid Day Multimedia. She had a cameo role in Everybody Says I'm Fine!. Bose is single. On his relationships, Rahul said, "I've had five very long relationships in my life, the last one finished seven years ago. I've had a life full of romantic love. Would I like another relationship, or five, or ten? Of course, I mean The Beatles said it best, 'all you need is love.' I would love to be in love, it would be fantastic."