Rahul’s romance with Canada
Subhash K. Jha

Rahul Bose, who recently attended a retrospective of his films at the Toronto film festival, says people's perceptions about Bollywood are changing.

"Though the conventional Bollywood song-and-dance formula was completely missing from my repertoire, they had a great deal of curiosity about Pyaar Ke Side Effects, English August and, of course, my directorial film Everybody Says I'm Fine," says the actor who is known for his unconventional roles.

"Not to say that Bollywood isn't identified with the song-and-dance formula any more. My kind of urban contemporary cinema is opening up a new Indian reality for international audiences," Rahul added.

The actor was also given a citation at his retrospective Masala Mehndi Masti for his contribution to the arts.

"And then there was a discussion on how much fun acting can be." The Canadians took to Rahul's non-masala repertoire like fish to water.

Besides the lavish retrospect in Toronto, the actor celebrated his 40th birthday with a grand party.

"My 40th birthday party was held at Toronto's posh nightclub Liberty Grand, which is almost like an open-air cathedral. Yes, there was a cake and about 1,000 guests from all over the world." He returns to Toronto in September with Santosh Sivan's Before The Rains in which Rahul plays the lead.

"I think my romance with Canada has just started...." Rahul will also be seen in the main lead in Aparna Sen's Japanese Wife. — IANS