What is your idea of happiness?
To realise every fierce desire, with no ambition. To do things because you want to, not because it will get you somewhere.
What is your greatest fear?
Nothing.
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
None, even partially. Actually, I've never thought of this. Nor am I inclined to.
Which living person do you most admire?
I admire every parent who rises at dawn and breaks his or her back to educate his or her children in a way they never enjoyed.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
My impatience.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Dishonesty.
What is your greatest extravagance?
My sports equipment, kit.
Who is your favourite painter?
Picasso. Genius.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
‘Family values'. Whatever that's supposed to mean.
On what occasion do you lie?
To actors when I'm directing and I don't think they've done terribly well.
What do you dislike most about your appearance?
Where do I start?
Which living person do you most despise?
It takes too much energy to hate, and even more to despise — a shallower, crueller emotion.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Fundamentally…
What is your greatest regret?
Wasting three years doing commerce in a dead environment, with uninspired teachers teaching a corpse of a syllabus.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My sister and her daughter. Followed closely by shami kabab s and paratha .
When and where were you happiest?
Now. Absolutely.
What is your present state of mind?
On overdrive. My foundation (The Foundation)'s fund-raiser, the greatest auction of world champion sporting memorabilia from across the planet, took place recently in Mumbai.
How would you like to die?
Off a mountain with the wind in my ears and the cold on my face.
What is your favourite motto?
Learn from the past, prepare for the future, but always, always live in the present.
What is your favourite journey?
The drive up from Chandigarh to my house in the mountains in Kasauli. Not because it's breathtakingly pretty, but because it's a drive to my emotional home, my centre
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Actor-screenwriter-director Rahul Bose started his acting career on the Bombay stage. He has acted in Hindi films such as “Pyar Ke Side Effects”, “Thakshak”, “Jhankar Beats” and “Chameli”. He was named “Superstar of Indian Arthouse Cinema” by Time magazine for his roles in “English August”, his debut film, and “Mr.and Mrs.Iyer”. He uses his celeb status for charity and is notable for his social activism.
