Rahul Bose

Rahul Bose (born 27 July 1967) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, social activist, and amateur rugby union player. Bose has appeared in Hindi films such as Pyaar Ke Side Effects and Jhankaar Beats. He also played the antagonist in the 2013 Tamil-Hindi film Vishwaroopam. Time magazine named him "the superstar of Indian arthouse cinema" for his work in parallel cinema films like English, August and Mr. and Mrs. Iyer. He is also notable for his social activism: he participated in the relief efforts that followed the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami and is also the founder of the anti-discrimination NGO, The Foundation. --- Rahul Bose was born to Rupen and Kumud Bose on 27 July 1967. He describes himself as "half Bengali; one-fourth Punjabi and one-fourth Maharashtrian". Bose spent his early childhood in Kolkata, West Bengal and then moved to Mumbai with his family. His first acting role was at age six when he played the lead 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. He also played cricket and was coached by cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. 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 copy writer 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. Bose started his acting career on the Bombay 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. Based on the novel of the same nameby 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. --- Rahul Bose formerly dated Koel Purie, who he directed in his film, Everybody Says I'm Fine!. They met in 1998 while filming an episode of the travel show The Great Escape for Travel Channel Asia. The couple remained good friends after their split, even appearing together in the 2004 film White Noise. Bose has one elder sister, Anuradha, who is married to Tariq Ansari, the owner and director of Mid-Day Multimedia. She had a cameo role in Everybody Says I'm Fine!.