Rahul Bose, an Indian actor, was born to Rupen and Kumud Bose. He spent his childhood in Kolkata, and then moved with his family to Mumbai. He is a graduate from Sydenham College.
His mother introduced him to boxing and rugby. He still plays international rugby in “National Orange Indian Rugby Team". Rahul spent time doing theatre, boxing and playing rugby, during his college.
His elder sister, Anuradha, is married to Tarique Ansari, owner and director of "Mid-Day Multimedia", a multiple media conglomerate in Mumbai, India.
He faced the audience for the first time at the age of six, playing the lead in ‘Tom, The Piper's Son”.
He quit his job at "Rediffusion" as creative director to become a serious actor, writer and director. ‘English, August’ directed by Dev Benegal is his first film. He is an alumnus of the Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai.
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'.
Acclaim followed for his work in movies like 'Split Wide Open' (Best Actor, Singapore Film Festival, 2000), Mr. And Mrs. Iyer, and 'Jhankaar Beats' - all international award-winning films. Although 'Thakshak' and 'Chameli' may be considered to be more mainstream, his image as India's premier actor of the alternative cinema finds concurrence across the world.
'Time' magazine called him 'the superstar of Indian arthouse cinema' while 'Maxim' (Italy), 'the Sean Penn of Oriental cinema'. His latest work in Buddhadev Dasgupta's 'Kaalpurush', was his fourth film to feature in the Toronto International Film Festival this year. Being hailed as his strongest work yet seems to have prompted four more film makers to sign him on.
His next films include Aparna Sen's '15, Park Avenue', and Rajeev Virani's 'The Whisperers'.
As is widely known now, Rahul's social concerns occupy an equally important space in his consciousness. Primary amongst these has been his unrelenting, post-Tsunami (he got there the day after it hit the islands), efforts in the Andaman and Nicobar islands - Rahul, as part of the Solidarity Network, has provided relief materials, vehicles, and is now working with the local administration to provide experts on water shed management.
Another key area of his focus is communal harmony and gender equality. He has lectured at Oxford on the former, written extensively about the issue and now regularly works with over 80 Muslim girls as part of an initiative created by Akshara Centre, a Bombay-based NGO. He is on the advisory board of 'Breakthrough', a New York-based NGO committed to gender equality and human rights. He has lectured on the same at the World Youth Peace Summit in 2003. He is also an ambassador of the American India Foundation, a New York-based NGO committed to funding social projects in India, as he is for the Spastics Society of India. His latest efforts include raising funds and assisting Akshara Centre in flood relief activities during the recent deluge in Bombay.
