Rahul Bose

Rahul Bose (born 27 July 1967) is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, social activist, and athlete.

Bose is the President of Indian Rugby Football Union.

He has appeared in Bengali films such as Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, Kalpurush, Anuranan, Antaheen, Laptop and The Japanese Wife.

He has also appeared in Hindi films such as Pyaar Ke Side Effects, Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam, Jhankaar Beats, Kucch Luv Jaisaa, Dil Dhadakne Do, Chameli and Shaurya.

Rahul Bose was born to father Rupen and mother Kumud Bose on 27 July 1967.

Bose's first acting role was at the age of six when he played the lead character 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 former India cricket captain 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 copywriter 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 Mumbai 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 name by 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.

After English, August Bose found work in television; he was offered a role in India's first English-language television serial, A Mouthful of Sky and also co-hosted BBC World's Style! with Laila Rouass.

In 1997, Bose was cast to play the role of Saleem Sinai in the BBC adaptation of Salman Rushdie's novel Midnight's Children.

The project was eventually canceled after the Indian and Sri Lankan governments refused to allow filming.

After seeing Bose in English, August, director Govind Nihalani cast him in the villain role opposite Ajay Devgan in the mainstream film Thakshak.

The film was not a financial success, although Bose received positive reviews.

In 1998 he appeared in Kaizad Gustad's Bombay Boys with Naseeruddin Shah and starred in Dev Benegal's second film, Split Wide Open.

To prepare for his role as a roving water vendor, Bose lived in Mumbai's slums and observed a drug dealer for two weeks.

Bose also appeared as "Vikal" a villain in the 1998 Science fiction TV series Captain Vyom

Although Split Wide Open was controversial in India because of its depictions of sexual abuse, Bose received the Silver Screen Award for Best Asian Actor at the 2000 Singapore International Film Festival for his performance.

He also performed abroad in the Leicester Haymarket in England where he starred in the English version of Tim Murari's play, The Square Circle.

In 2001, Bose made his directorial debut with Everybody Says I'm Fine!.

He later cited this time—along with the 2002 Gujarat riots—as the beginning of the awakening of his social conscience.

In 2002, Bose starred opposite Konkona Sen Sharma in Aparna Sen's art film Mr. and Mrs. Iyer.

The film, a critique of communal violence, was a critical success and won several awards at international film festivals as well as three National Film Awards.

Starring Rehaan Engineer and Koel Purie and featuring Bose in a supporting role, Everybody received mixed reviews from critics, but won Bose the runner-up John Schlesinger Award for best directorial debut at the 2003 Palm Springs International Film Festival.

In 2003, Bose entered mainstream Bollywood cinema with Jhankaar Beats in which he played one of two friends, R.D. Burman fans who are obsessed with winning a music competition.

Boosted by a successful soundtrack, Jhankaar Beats was a surprise hit in urban multiplexes and went on to win several awards for its music.

The same year, Bose appeared in another Bollywood film, Mumbai Matinee which saw a UK release.

He starred in Chameli opposite Kareena Kapoor, playing a wealthy chain-smoking Mumbai banker who is stranded in the monsoon rains with a prostitute.

The film was not a box office success, but won several Filmfare and IIFA awards.

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.

He also played the antagonist in the Tamil thriller Vishwaroopam (2013) and its sequel.

Time magazine named him "the superstar of Indian arthouse cinema" while Maxim named him "the Sean Penn of Oriental cinema" for his work in parallel cinema films like English, August and Mr. and Mrs. Iyer.