Rasheen Rahman, a.k.a. Rahman, was the epitome of youth. Unlike most young stars who burst out of the gate, to disappear and make a comeback much later, Rahman virtually ruled Malayalam cinema for more than a decade after his debut. He then quietly slipped out of the embrace of Mollywood to morph effortlessly in other language films. Rahman made a comeback in ‘Black' and has been here, still a show-stopper, aging gracefully, choosing noticeable roles. Refreshingly unaffected and agreeable to talk to, his good manners unmistakable, only once during his freewheeling chat with FridayReview did Rahman flounder, and turn emotional. And that was when he travelled back to those lonely days at the top. Excerpts from the interview…
Lonely at the top
From the age of five I was in boarding school, separated from my family. ‘Koodevide' happened while I was still in school. There are no regrets because that kind of schooling made me who I am. By the time I was 24, I had an apartment in Chennai, was a party animal, chilling out with friends. Of course, I enjoyed life more than any youngster of that age. But I was cut off from my family. There were moments when I felt really lonely when I saw colleagues eating and talking about food cooked by their mothers or sisters. I realised the worth of all this only after I got married and began to enjoy this wall of protection.
‘Koodevide'
Padmarajan Sir comes to mind, so too producers Prem Prakash and Rajan Joseph (son of Jose Prakash). Another boy, Manu, from Thiruvananthapuram, was supposed to do this role. But somehow it came to me. I was in Rex International School then. At the sets, they did a photo shoot, and then asked me to watch the action for a couple of days. My first shot was shouting at Mammootty. The dialogue was in English and I went through it easily. I had taken my first step into films.
Early years in Malayalam cinema
I was fortunate to work with so many senior artistes such as Prem Nazir, Madhu, Sankaradi, Bahadur, Adoor Bhasi, Jayabharathy, K. R. Vijaya, and more. I was associated with so many great directors right from Padmarajan, Bharathan, K. S. Sethumadhavan, Jaycey, Joshy, and Sasikumar to Sathyan Anthikad. I was asked by Sukumari Chechi to observe Nazir sir, his punctuality, good manners, professionalism. I come from this school. Those days films we were just actors; no one was a super star; cinema was not a one-man show.
The hiatus from Malayalam
I was doing well in Malayalam when I got this offer from Tamil. The film, ‘Nilavai Malare' (1986) did very well and so did a couple of films that followed. There was so much here that we as young actors could not dream of in Malayalam then. The luxury, lavish sets, colour, glamour, fancy costumes, were some thing I longed for as a young star. And with K. Balachander's ‘Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal' I had entrenched myself comfortably in Tamil.
Being kept out
There was a film by Fazil that I could not accept because the dates clashed with my Tamil projects. I think he was convinced but there were others who used this opportunity to spread stories. I came to know later that there was a group that was working against me.
Being Rahman
Generally, I'm cool. But people close to me think I must be more aggressive and that I'm also a bit proud! This is because I do not knock at doors for offers. I keep to myself on the sets. People do tend to take me for granted. There's one instance when I blew my top. That was in a Tamil film. I got so upset that I flung a chair, and even had the director changed after he had shot around 18,000 feet.
Life after ‘Traffic'
Most actors would have rejected this role. It had negative shades but it was justified in the end. The director and producer kept their word, which rarely happens these days. But even in ‘Traffic' I had some bitter moments. The publicity material did not have my photograph. I was not only the senior-most actor but also played a pivotal role in it. Even on the film DVD I was reduced to one among the technicians. This happened even with ‘Rajamanickyam.' When the film was announced only my name was conspicuously missing in the promos.
The family man
I spend a lot of time at home with my family. I'm the hero there (laughs). I'm passionately into photography, I stay connected with my fans through the social networking sites, there's snooker which I have taken up seriously even taking part in competitions and then my routine gym schedule. Inshallah! Life has been good.
New projects
Apart from a few Tamil and Telugu films I'm doing a couple of new Malayalam movies too. Among them are ‘Bachelor Party,' ‘Musafir,' ‘Lavender.'
