Rehman Hassan started his career as a journalist. Which makes him a easy subject to interview. (Or a more difficult one, depending on the questions!)
The man, who is credited with “breaking news” -- he worked for a Kannada news channel as an anchor, news reader and talk show host -- is in the news now. And, for a good reason.
Rehman plays the lead in Gara , directed by Murali Krishna, which releases on May 3. Though he has acted in films like Jaguar, where he plays an editor of a news channel, and Vanilla , where he plays the second lead, Gara will be his first film where he plays the lead. Rehman has also acted in Rana Vikrama, featuring Puneeth Rajkumar in the lead. “Here too I play a journalist, who interviews Puneeth,” shares Rehman, who has also acted in serials like Krishna Tulais (as a businessman) for Star Suvarna and a guest role for Zee TVs Pattedari Prathibha , directed by Naveen Krishna.
In Gara , he will also be sharing the screen with the famous Bollywood actor Johnny Lever and comedian Sadhu Kokila. Legendary Saroj Khan choreographs the dances for him and ace stunt master of the Kannada film industry, Ravi Varma, has choreographed his fights.
Rehman is thrilled and thanks his director Murali Krishna. " Gara is a dream film for me as I get to portray many characters on screen and also got a chance to work with legends like Johnny Lever, Ramesh Bhat, Padmaja Rao, Roopa Devi and Ramakrishna,” smiles the former TV 9 news anchor, who also adds that the film has a song sung by Sonu Nigam, which is shot on him.
Rehman says he never planned anything in his life, but “just went with the flow. “I always knew I wanted to do something different and did not want to be stuck with a nine-to-five job. “Journalism also happened by chance. I would watch many news channels back home in Hassan and my sister suggested I try news reading as my Kannada is really good,” reveals Rehman. Try he did and to his own surprise, he was selected. That was just the beginning of his climb to fame.
“A few months into the job, I got to know Udaya TV was looking for anchors and I got the job,” shares the news reader, who then shifted base to Chennai to work with the channel. Just as he was “settling in, TV 9 “was being launched in Bengaluru and was looking for anchors. I applied and was chosen,” he says.
Life was still normal for Rehman until he entered the Big Boss Season3 which premièred on TV in October 2015. The popular anchor became a household name overnight. “Even I was shocked when Big Boss team approached me. They said Season3 was a little different, in that, it featured people from all walks and professions. From the journalism field, I was chosen. By then, I had already completed 10 years in journalism. Monotony was kicking in. I had covered almost every issue that was to be covered and felt like I have been there and done that. So, I jumped at the Big Boss offer.”
Rehman was at the Bog Boss house for 100 days and once he was out, he did not want to go back to journalism or news anchoring, but was being lured by the big world of films. “One episode of Big Boss was all about a clash I had with film producer-actor Huccha Venkat . This particular episode was seen by Murali Krishna and he approached me for the lead role in Gara .”
With a long innings of facing the camera as a news anchor and acting in serials and films, Rehman feels acting is “not tough. I had no fear of the camera. Gara is a huge treat for me as I play a man with many shades. He is good, yet has a strange negative streak. He gambles and is into astrology. The film is based on RK Narayan’s short story, Astrologer’s Day ,” shares Rehman.
He also thanks his stars as he feels “things are happening at the right time, “I am also getting a huge break at a time when the industry and the audience are open to experimentation, breaking away from ‘star’ casts and formula stories.” Where does that leave Rehman the journalist? He responds, “once a journalist, always a journalist.”
