Rahul Bose was born to father Rupen and mother Kumud Bose on 27 July 1967.[4]
Bose's first acting role was at the age of six when he played the lead character in a school play, Tom, the Piper's Son. As a child he took an interest in sports after his mother introduced him to boxing and rugby union.[5] He also played cricket and was coached by former India cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.[6]
He is an alumnus of the Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai. After being rejected by a number of American universities, Bose attended Sydenham College. While at the college he played on the school's rugby team and competed in the Western India Championships, winning a silver medal in boxing. After his mother's death in 1987, Bose began working as a copywriter at Rediffusion and was later promoted to advertising creative director. Bose left the job to become a full-time actor after the release of his first film, English, August.[5]
Stage and film career
Early career: 1993–2003
Bose started his acting career on the Mumbai stage in Rahul D'Cunha's Topsy Turvey and Are There Tigers in the Congo?. D'Cunha's aunt was the casting director for director Dev Benegal's film English, August and suggested that Bose should play the lead role. After filming a screen test, Benegal decided to cast him as civil servant Agastya Sen.[4] Based on the novel of the same name by Upamanyu Chatterjee, English, August was one of the first Hinglish films and gained Bose international recognition when it became the first Indian film to be purchased by 20th Century Fox and won several awards at international film festivals.[7]
After English, August Bose found work in television; he was offered a role in India's first English-language television serial, A Mouthful of Sky and also co-hosted BBC World's Style! with Laila Rouass. In 1998 he appeared in Kaizad Gustad's Bombay Boys with Naseeruddin Shah and starred in Dev Benegal's second film, Split Wide Open. To prepare for his role as a roving water vendor, Bose lived in Mumbai's slums and observed a drug dealer for two weeks.[5] He later cited this time—along with the 2002 Gujarat riots—as the beginning of the awakening of his social conscience.[8] Although Split Wide Open was controversial in India because of its depictions of sexual abuse,[9][10] Bose received the Silver Screen Award for Best Asian Actor at the 2000 Singapore International Film Festival for his performance.[5] He also performed abroad in the Leicester Haymarket in England where he starred in the English version of Tim Murari's play, The Square Circle.[11][12]
In 1997, Bose was cast to play the role of Saleem Sinai in the BBC adaptation of Salman Rushdie's novel Midnight's Children. The project was eventually canceled after the Indian and Sri Lankan governments refused to allow filming.[13]
After seeing Bose in English, August, director Govind Nihalani cast him in the villain role opposite Ajay Devgan in the mainstream film Thakshak. The film was not a financial success, although Bose received positive reviews.[14]
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[18] and went on to win several awards for its music.[19] 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[20] and IIFA awards.[21][22]
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.[23]
Bose (far left) on the set of National Award-winning Hindi film I Am in 2010
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.[24] The film opened well in multiplexes[25][26] and was a moderate financial success, eventually ranking among the top-grossing films of 2006.[27] Both Bose and Sherawat received positive reviews for their performances.[28] Sherawat and Bose also starred together in another Bollywood comedy, Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam (2008), which was a commercial and critical failure.[29]
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".[34] 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.[35]The Japanese Wife, with Japanese actress Chigusa Takaku, the third Aparna Sen film in which he has appeared, released on 9 April 2010.[36][37] He also appeared as a contestant in the reality show Khatron Ke Khiladi where he was eliminated in the 12th round.[38] He hosted the second series of Bloomberg UTV reality show The Pitch.[39] His role as a gay man harassed by the police in I Am was appreciated by critics.[40]
He appeared in Deepa Mehta's version of Midnight's Children where he played the role of General Zulfikar.[41] He also played the villain in the 2013 Tamil film Vishwaroopam.[1]Naren Weiss who was 19 years old at the time, acted opposite Bose in all of his scenes for Vishwaroopam, and credited Bose for working with him during filming.[42] He was scheduled to begin shooting his adaptation of Mohsin Hamid's novel, Moth Smoke in early 2010,[43] but the project was postponed after the film's financial backers pulled out.[44] In 2013, he also played opposite Konkona Sen Sharma again in Suman Mukhopadhyay's Shesher Kabita.[45] In 2017, he directed, produced and acted in the biopic Poorna about the youngest girl to climb Mount Everest.[46]
In 1998, Bose was part of the first Indian national rugby team to play in an international event, the Asian Rugby Football Union Championship.[55] He has played both scrum-half and right-winger positions.[56] In an interview with Daily News & Analysis, Bose announced that he would not return to the team for the 2009 season.[57]
Activism
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.[58] The scholarship program provides for the education of underprivileged children from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.[59]
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.[60] He is the founder and chairman of The Group of Groups, an umbrella organisation for 51 Mumbai charitable organisations and NGOs.[61] He is also an ambassador for the American India Foundation, the World Youth Peace Movement[62] and Planet Alert.[63] He was also a vocal proponent of Narmada Bachao Andolan and its efforts to halt the construction of the Narmada dam.[64][65] 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.[66]
At the 8th convocation of BRAC University Bangladesh on 17 February 2013, Bose delivered the convocation speech.[citation needed]
Personal life
Bose has one elder sister, Anuradha, who is married to Tariq Ansari, the owner and director of Mid-Day Multimedia.[70] She had a cameo role in Everybody Says I'm Fine! (2001).[71] 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."[72]
^Sushmita Biswas (10 December 2005). "The new melody moguls". Calcutta Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
