Gags and straight talk

Rahul Bose, who is going to be on UTV Bindass today, speaks to Namita Gupta on subjects close to his heart, including his favourite April Fool pranks

Rahul Bose, who is going to be on UTV Bindass today, speaks to Namita Gupta on subjects close to his heart, including his favourite April Fool pranks

Rahul Bose started his acting career early when as a boy of six he played the lead in his school play, Tom, the Piper's Son. Ever since then, his love for theatre has only grown with a prolific body of work on the Bombay stage, culminating in his last performance at the Leicester Haymarket in England, where he played the lead in Tim Murari's The Square Circle.

His film career took off with the unprecedented success of his first film, English August, a cult favourite amongst cinephiles. Acclaim followed for his work in movies like Split Wide Open, Mr And Mrs Iyer, Jhankaar Beats, Chain Kuli Ki Main Kuli and, more recently, Dil Kabaddi.

Here's his take on matters that currently interest him:

Voting
We are being told to exercise our votes and that elections are very important. With all this election news, we will all remember that we have to vote, but what many may forget is to ask themselves if they are voting for the right person.u00a0 Unless we have the right people, we will not have the right kind of India. But do we know what kind of India we want? First, we have to all analyse what kind of person each one of us is. Are we anywhere close to delivering what we as good citizens should be?

Cinema
A lot of young people are attracted to cinema these days due to the fame and the glamour. You have to understand that it depends on luck and talent. If you're going to look only at the fame and glamour, you will be completely disappointed.

Current projects
I'm doing a film called Fired, which is a horror film, in the psychological sense. I have a fantastic role in it. I will be shooting for three weeks in London for it. I'm also dubbing for a film called Japanese Wife by Aparna Sen and Zara Jee Ke Dekho.

Love life
You want a short answer? Right now it's non-existent. When I have it I will tell you. But I'm in love with everything that I do my work, my films, my social work, my rugby.

Social worku00a0
I run an NGO called Foundation. The Foundation's goal is to step in where it can, to make an effective, lasting change in discriminatory attitudes seen anywhere in our lives. The details of my NGO are on https://www.thefoundation.in/

Rugby
I'm a member of the Indian rugby team and have played 14 international matches against teams from countries like Japan, Kazakhstan and China.

Party animal
No, that I am not!

April Fool's Day
I remember a prank which my friends at the ad agency, where I was working, played on me. Exactly 20 years ago, on April 1, when I was working with Rediffusion D,Y&R my boss called me up and asked me to wear a formal suit and go the airport to pick up a senior manager. I went there and there was no one. Then, I got a call, asking me to come back to office. I reached the office and everyone had lined up to see me sweat it out in the Mumbai heat in my formals! It was damn funny because no one in an ad agency wears formal clothes to work!

Good things come in small packages
The talented actor totally makes you believe that good things come in small packages. Catch Rahul Bose Live on UTV Bindass's April Fool special episode today at 8 pm. It is a show by the youth, for the youth and hosted by three youngsters Raja, Aaliya and Kunal and covers the latest trends, gossip and issues that matter to the youth of India.