‘Alternative films are my dal chawal’

doweshowbellyad=0; Rahul Bose. (TOI Photo) A week since Shaurya released and Rahul Bose is as composed as he was before the release of the film. In the midst of interviews and pats on the back for his performance in the film, the actor is cool and very pragmatic when he talks about his character, Siddhant Chaudhury.
Neither is he a very good lawyer, nor is Siddhant interested in continuing in the Army.But it���s the open and shut case that acts as an eye-opener to him. That Siddhant is so unaccountable was what appealed to me,��� says Rahul, adding, ���from a flawed individual to a responsible person is what sums up his journey in the film.���
Talk about the current trend of successful low-budget films and Rahul prefers to look at it differently. Says he, ���Instead of blaming the audience, I think the film-makers during the 70s, 80s and 90s should be held responsible for the dumbing down of Hindi films. It���s not just that we are being offered more variety now, but it���s also that our level of acceptance has broadened to accept parallel cinema with an equally open perspective.���
But could this changed perspective of the audience be a reason why he himself is considered to be an actor who excels in parallel cinema? And he puts it very simply, ���I don���t know why we prefer to tag actors as excelling in parallel cinema or mainstream or the whole idea of an item number and so on and so forth. But I���ll say that alternative films are my dal chawal while mainstream movies help me enjoy my Chinese food once in a while.��� And with a kitty bursting from the seams with as many as 10 films, Rahul is definitely going to be seen very often on the large screen.
I chose to work on 10 films at a stretch, a hectic 450-day schedule because I will not be working from July this year till next April. And my films are a mix of both arthouse and mainstream films. With Shaurya just having released, there���s Kaalpurush, The Whisperers, The Japanese Wife, Before the Rain, Dastaan, a film set in Kashmir, Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam which is a black comedy, Bubblegum, Mumbai Chaka Chak, where I play a sweeper in the Mumbai Municipality and Ghost Ghost Na Raha, a romantic comedy.���
And breaking off to catch a breath after this exhaustive list, Rahul adds that his commitment made him go in for a long schedule like this so that he could be free to work on his next directorial venture, a film based on the Mohsin Hamid novel, Moth Smoke. Though Everybody Says I���m Fine met with a lukewarm response, Rahul sounds very spirited when he talks about his forthcoming venture. ���It was a fantastic book and I didn���t want to miss the opportunity of getting to work on it further. Though nothing yet has been finalised on the cast of the film, I just know that I���m making it,��� he informs with a hint of excitement in his voice that is almost contagious. Finally, on being questioned about the entire process of awards and recognition given to films in our country, his voice seems to break off. Maybe he isn���t too comfortable to answer this but a few seconds later, he chooses the best way out, a diplomatic one, ���If the awards are as unbiased as they claim they are, I am game,��� is all we get out of him.