Rahul Bose

Rahul Bose is not only a good actor, but also a screenwriter, social activist, a director and also an avid player of rugby. Though he is also a part of the mainstream Hindi cinema, most of his work has been in parallel cinemas. Born on 27th July 1967 to a mixed parentage, he spent the early part of his childhood in Kolkata. Later his family moved to Mumbai. Right from his childhood, he was interested in sports and acting. He finished his schooling from the Cathedral and John Connon School. He completed his further studies at the Sydenham College in Mumbai. Though he is not married, he had a good relationship with former co-star Koel Puri.

In 1987 after the tragic death of his mother, he worked as a copywriter initially. However, after that, he decided to work as a full time actor, after 'English, August' in 1994. He also worked in India's only English TV serial 'A Mouthful of Sky' and co-hosted 'Style!' by BBC World. Through the 90s, he was seen acting in films like 'Bomgay', 'Bombay Boys', 'Split Wide Open' and a Bollywood film 'Thakshak'. However, his directorial debut came with 'Everybody Says I'm Fine' in the year 2001. The film was a runner up for the John Schlesinger Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in 2003. In 2002, he was seen starring opposite to Konkona Sen Sharma in the film 'Mr and Mrs Iyer', which is about the horrors of communal violence in India.

It was only after 2002 that he was seen in the mainstream Hindi films, the first one being 'Jhankaar Beats'. The film was a great success and won several awards for its music. After that he acted in several films like 'Mumbai Matinee', 'Chameli' and '15 Park Avenue'. He also starred in the Bollywood rom-com 'Pyaar Ke Side Effects' starring opposite to Mallika Sherawat. He was greatly praised by the critics for his performance in the film.

He has also got his share of working in Bengali films, such as 'Anuranan' (2006), 'Kaalpurush' (2008) and 'Antaheen' (2009). 'Kaalpurush' won the National Film Award For The Best Feature Film. 'Antaheen' too won many national awards. Later in the decade, he was seen in films like 'Before The Rains', 'Shaurya', 'Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam' and 'Dil Kabaddi'. He was also seen in an Apran Sen film called 'The Japanese Wife' in 2010.

His latest work is Deepa Mehta's 'Midnight Children' where he played the role of General Zulfikar. Also he was seen playing the antagonist role of a terrorist in Kamal Haasan's controversial 2013 film 'Vishwaroop'. His future projects include a film called 'Moth Smoke' by Mohsin Hamid, which will commence in 2013. Also he would be doing another Bengali film called 'Shesher Kabita' with Konkona Sen Sharma'

However, apart from being a personality in the film industry, he is also an avid sportsman. He was a player on India's rugby team in 1998, which played for the first team in the Asian Rugby Football Union Championship.

He is no less of a philanthropist as he is an actor. His NGO, 'The Foundation' helped in providing assistance in education for the Tsunami affected poor children in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Alongside, he also aids other social work NGOs like Akshara Centre and Citizens for Justice and Peace. He was also the global ambassador for Oxfam from India in the year 2007. He is also involved in several other humanitarian projects like the 'Narmada Bachao Andolan'. In 2011, he worked alongside with footballer Baichung Bhutia for raising funds for the Sikkim earthquake victims.