Having made his debut in “Yeh Mohabbat Hai”, model-turned-television actor Rahul Bhat got appreciation for playing the protagonist in “Ugly”. He is now all set to make his presence felt in Abhishek Kapoor’s “Fitoor” and Prakash Jha’s forthcoming “Jai Gangaajal”.
In an interaction with The Hindu Rahul talks about his films, his roles and more.
Edited excerpts of the interview:
There was a long gap between your films “Nayee Padosan” and Anurag Kashyap’s “Ugly”. Also tell us about your role in “Ugly”.
I did a lot of work during the gap you mention. I produced serials as I did not want to act in mundane projects. So I chose to wait.
The preparation for the role of “Ugly” was emotionally draining. I did not sleep more than three hours a day for three consecutive months as the character had to be depicted as insomniac. The film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival and I was also nominated for best actor in New York Indian Film Festival. So all hard work paid off.
Was it easier to act in “Fitoor” based in Kashmir in which the conflict of the region is shown through your character?
As we were compulsorily taught Urdu till eighth standard in school, command over it helped me a lot. As far as the conflict in the region is concerned, the scene in which Aditya says ‘Doodh mangoge to kheer denge, Kashmir mangoge to cheer denge’ in which I am also appearing, is because I play Bilal, heir apparent of an influential Pakistani politician. As my role is a cameo, there is no relation of the conflict as such.
What is your take about the new directors who are giving stories which connect more with non metro audience? Is the choice of audience also undergoing a change?
The new generation of the directors whom I call krantikari (revolutionaries) are mainly coming from small cities and middle class families and did not grew up in the celebrity families based in Mumbai. They are questioning the control of the few people over the industry and making their presence felt by making films which have content, are rich in script with even no big stars at times and that is changing cinema.
Tell us about the iconic role of Devdas in your upcoming movie “Aur Devdas”
As the film is a contemporary take on Devdas, comparison of any kind with previous films will be out of context as I was not inspired by any of them and tried to do the role my way so that audience could get an altogether different experience of watching the thing which they have already seen in different versions. It is directed by Sudhir Mishra, which makes it emotional, edgy and sharp.
Can you talk about working in Prakash Jha’s “Gangaajal”?
I really enjoyed working with Prakash Jha and as he is acting for the first time, we used to tease him by referring him as a junior in acting even though he has made many films.(laughs)
My character is that of a qualified person who has studied in prestigious institutions and worked in America but comes back to India to work for common people by starting a non government organisation and fight for the cause of farmers.
