Rahul Bose: 'I am a sensational kisser'

by Urvashi Ashar

Pyar Ke Side Effects is being touted as the craziest and most special movie of the season. What's so special and what's so crazy about it? "It's not the craziest, nor the most special.

That's marketing hype. But the movie is very real. It's about a man and a woman who are in a long-term relationship but as soon as the word marriage comes up the man starts running, while the woman is looking for commitment. So it's very real situation of contemporary urban relationships. It's witty and well written."

The lady woos the guy in this one. What would you be thinking if a woman proposed to you? "Well, of course, here the woman has to do it because there's no sign of the guy doing it. But if a woman made the first move, it would be pretty cool.

It would be interesting to see how a woman deals with the fear of rejection, because men have to deal with it all the time. Not me, because I always get rejected outright. So I have no fear of rejection. The taste of defeat in my mouth is now thirty years old."

When you fall in love, what are the side effects? "I have forgotten the sensation. I haven't been in love for six years now. But in retrospect, there's a certain calm that I used to feel. It puts a man's libido at rest for a while, and he's no longer as restless as he used to be.

There's definitely a stemming of the insecurity because if you are with the right partner then it's a very constructive completion of each other. But over the years I have learnt that the sense of completion, calmness and self security are really things you have to find for yourself. And you shouldn't wait for someone to complete that for you."

We hear that the makers of a film are quite eager to cast you because the side effect of that is that all actors then automatically agree to do the film. "It's totally true.

Whenever I'm in a film, actors run to be in it so that they wouldn't be the worst actors there .They probably think, "Compared to Rahul, we'll look good; the critics will flog him and we'll be fine. No, but honestly, I take it as a massive compliment, it's flattering..."

You co-actor Mallika Sherawat passed out while doing an underwater kissing scene in the film. Bad breath? "I am a sensational kisser. I am known as Rahul Kissing Bose or Rahul Beware-of-his-lips Bose.

But the true version is: It was very cold under water; Mallika's teeth would be chattering and we both were shivering. And somebody in their wisdom began to give her shots of brandy.

Now, Mallika doesn't drink, so she was unaware and there was this lovely warm sensation spreading through her. What she didn't realise was that alcohol would keep her warm only for some time because it's a vasodilator, i.e. it dehydrates you. And the eight or the ninth time we were in the water she began to turn pale and bluish.

So we had to rub the souls of her feet and hands... Yes there were a lot of men were there willing to give her a rub down and things, but then she came out of it. I would like to think that it's my sensational kissing ability that made her pass out, though. We should just ask her, it just may have been."

Do you think Mallika has got a raw deal with the way people tend to perceive her? "Mallika came into this industry with a very clear idea about how she wanted to project herself and I believe PKSE is going to be a film that is going to change that projection, both for her and for the people. Whether she has been given a fair deal, I don't know.

I don't know how people receive her, I didn't ever see her movies before I worked with her then I did. I know as much about her as any lay man would in terms of reading the newspapers. I can imagine that people think of her as an aggressive and sexy woman."

Do you find her sexy? "No, and I mean that in the best way. I find that there are a lot of things more appealing about Mallika than her sexiness. I find she has a culture of hard-work; she really wants to improve herself as an actress, as a reader, as a thinker.

She is constantly evolving. She has got a sort of a gamine sense of humour. She is a very down to earth and a very simple girl actually. All of that is a lot more appealing to me.

I even tell her that I don't find her sexy. But she finds me extremely sexy and it has become a problem now, so I've had to ban her number from coming onto my cell-phone."