Rahul Bose discovered his passion for acting early when as a boy of six, he played the lead in his school play, ‘Tom, the Piper’s Son’. Today one of the country’s most respected actors, his seminal roles are the ones in, ‘English, August’, ‘Split Wide Open’ (Best Actor – Singapore Film Festival), ‘Mr and Mrs Iyer’, ‘Before the Rains’, ‘Kaalpurush’ (National Award for Best Film, 2007),‘The Japanese Wife’ ands ‘I Am’. ‘Time’ magazine called him ‘the superstar of Indian art house cinema’ while ‘Maxim’ (Italy), ‘the Sean Penn of Oriental cinema’. In recognition of this, two retrospectives have been held – the first in Geneva in 2004, and the second at the Masala! Mehndi! Masti! Festival in Toronto in 2007, while the River to River Festival in Florence featured an unprecedented 5 of his films in 2010.
Recipient of the Lt. Governor’s Commendation Award for Services to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on India’s Independence Day this year, Rahul’s social concerns occupy an equally important space in his consciousness. 2007 was a seminal year in his efforts at public service and philanthropy when he started his own non-profit organization, dedicated to the removal of discrimination from all walks of life.
An acclaimed speaker Rahul continues to deliver talks across the world. His motivational speeches on leadership, life choices, personal success and public commitment have been shared with employees of notable corporates like Hewlett-Packard, SAP, The Taj Group of Hotels and HSBC Bank to name a few. 2008 saw Rahul’s international profile as a social activist really gain recognition when he was one of twelve international thinkers, politicians, economists and social activists to inaugurate the ‘In My Name’ initiative against global poverty. His speech at the TEDX Leadership Summit in Bombay was especially well received. Speaking at schools and colleges is something Rahul never misses an opportunity to do. He has spoken at Oxford University, Cambridge University, Cornell University, MIT, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, IIT, Bombay, BITS, Pilani and St. Xavier’s College, Bombay, amongst others. Apart from raising funds and personally donating to CJP, Rahul continues to write for and participate in new initiatives for the organization-.including flood relief activities during the deluge of 2006 in Bombay. These and his unquestionable passion for the city were reflected in his ceaseless efforts to get Bombay to speak in one voice in its demand for good governance by creating, Group of Groups, a coalition of 51 NGOs and citizens groups that has since disbanded.
Rahul continues to write prolifically on issue ranging from gender equality to the future of Indian cinema. His many articles straddling sport, humour, non-profit and cinema may be found with a simple Google search. A regular tweeter, (@RahulBose1), Rahul has over 350,000 followers. A lifelong resident of Bombay, Rahul currently leads the quintessential peripatetic life with punctuated retreats to his mountain home in Kasauli.
Topics:
- Leadership – Practical and workable principles of leadership garnered through coaching and captaining a rugby team, helming an NGO and producing and directing films.
- The Grassy Knoll – Everybody has some skill they are born to do. 9/10 never find it. Out of the 1/10 that do, 9/10 never pursue it due to various factors- financial pressure, lack of family support, fear of failure. Here’s how you can find it, live it and make it earn for you.
- Personal success and public commitment – How two seemingly contrary pursuits are inextricably linked. A demonstration of how an obsession with personal success automatically translates into genuine and lasting public commitment.
- Indian Cinema – Past, present and future. Tracing the arc of the country’s cinema drawing parallels with post-independent India’s socio-cultural evolution.
- Gender Equality – The search for the Holy Grail – what it means for men and women to share respect and responsibility.
- Life lessons learnt through cinema as a director; through rugby as a leader and team player; through the world of non-profit as a founder of two NGOs – Life lessons encompassing leadership, the importance of having a vision, how to be a productive team player, the importance of empathy and emotional intelligence.
