There's no stopping Raj

This Kolkata guy is asoftware engineer, who ventured into modelling when in college and bagged theseventh and third runner-up positions in two leading pageants. After he foundthat he was no longer part of the software company that he had started with afew of his friends, he came back to Kolkata and got through for an MBA. 'Iwas also planning to start my software firm when I met producer-director TapanSaha, who offered me a role in Jugalbandi,' he says, while adding that thefilm was about to start in four months time during which he was sent to Mumbaifor a workshop. 'The film never happened but I thought when in Mumbai, whynot try dabbling in acting?' he reasons.Ask him if Gulaal wasthe turning point in his career and he says, 'I bagged Mehmaanjee,Waiting-Room and Meridian Lines after the directors saw the rushes ofGulaal.'Incidentally, Sushil Rajpal's Mehmaanjee is on atrue story set in Bihar. 'It's about groom kidnapping, how eligibleguys used to get kidnapped by the girl's family and forcibly married off.It's called Pakaduah shaadi,' explains the actor, who'splaying the lead, while adding, 'My character is about to become an IASofficer when I'm kidnapped and tortured, before being forcibly married offunder sedation.'Waiting Room, a psychological thriller, byManeej Premnath has him playing the lead once again. Set in a small railwaystation in Kerala, the story is about four characters stuck in the waiting roomfor the night. For Meridian Lines, an Hinglish film, director VinnyMitra has worked on the Karma theory. 'There are four stories which getmerged. There's Soha Ali Khan and me in one, Konkona Sen Sharma and Irrfanin another, Abhay Deol and Raima Sen in the next and Arjun Rampal in yetanother.' These apart, Chaudhary has two films in the pipelinewith Kashyap and another Rajpal venture. 'Called Old Monk, this is a truestory about a person who has lost his memory,' he continues before signingoff with, 'For me, the director, script and my role are the determiningfactors.'