He might be known for playing negative roles on big
screen, but in real world, he is a doting father
who is playing the role of both father and mother to his son, a true lover who
still misses his wife and a concerned environmentalist. Actor Rahul
Dev, who plays the role of an extremist leader in Sanjay Dutt-starrer Netflix
film ‘Torbaaz’, says that 2020 has been a great year for him workwise.
“In the year of the pandemic when people haven’t had work, I have been working
since June 24 till now except for three weeks,” Rahul, who will complete 20
years in the film industry on December 22, told Opoyi.
The actor, who started his movie journey in 2000
with ‘Champions’, went on filming and finishing some great works in 2020,
including Sanjay Gadhvi’s ‘Operation Parindey’ , ZEE5’s thriller film ‘Raat
Baaki Hai’, comedy series ‘Who’s Your Daddy’, ‘Poison 2’ and of course
‘Torbaaz’.
Looking back at the time when he started his
career, Rahul says, “The period I entered the movies was a regressive period.
There was a clear divide between negative and positive. I entered the industry
with an antagonist role in ‘Champion’ that was followed with mostly negative
roles. I tried my best, like I played freedom fighter Sukhdev in ‘23rd March
1931: Shaheed’. Also, I did ‘Kyou’, a film by Kalpana Lajmi. I did ‘Indian’,
but apart from that, most of the roles were negative roles. Nobody was giving me
comedy. I did ‘Aawara Paagal Deewana” that had little comedy but that was a
very straight-faced comedy. So then ‘Whose Daddy’ happened. Then ‘Operation…’,
which opened the year for me and it was a serious film, so I got to play
different kinds of roles. So it’s been an interesting phase now.”
Rahul, who was away from filmdom for some years because of his personal life,
says that his child was his priority at that time.
“Reason was my child’s responsibility as he was in
standard 6, as a parent who has to play the role of both father and mother, he
is the priority,” said Rahul and added that the period was a very trying time
for him as he lost his wife in 2009 to cancer.
“I was lucky to have met my spiritual master in 2013 and it was with his grace,
I could do things. From 2013 onwards, that objectivity came to my mind that I
should go back to movies and when you are away for four and a half years,
sometimes it is difficult. Things are not the same anymore. Gradually I came
back and now this is a very busy year for me,” he said.
He says that his spiritual master not only helped him
in pulling himself together but also helped in clearing his thought process of
going back to movies.
“I started making gym (Rahul owns a gym chain) because
when I had gone to Delhi and I used to go to Siddharth’s (his son) Parents
Teachers Meeting (PTM), I used to wonder what would my son do in future and
what am I doing as a parent to enhance his future. I would see only women there
at a parent-teacher meeting. I have nothing against women because my mother has
been a housewife and working woman but it used to make me wonder where the men
are so obviously I knew that men are at work
“In my case, I had given up my profession…but I
thought that now what to do and the other thing I could do is fitness because I
loved fitness so I got into the gym. However, making the gym and running them
commercially is entirely different from having a passion for exercising so
obviously, numbers didn’t add up and I was losing part of my money and this was
the time my spiritual master told me to go back to the creative field,” he
said.
But amidst all this, did he ever think of giving up?
“Never,” he responded and added “Between 2009 and 2010 when I lost my partner,
that was the time when I thought life has no meaning because you lost your
spouse who was unwell and you were not able to give your time then the whole
thing became meaningless. In the end life is not just about the profession and
has a much larger connotation,” he said.
The actor is currently enjoying the success of ‘Torbaaz’. Recalling the time
when he got the role, he said, “I met the director Girish (director Girish
Malik) by chance. I didn’t know that we stayed in the same building in Mumbai.
He is a floor above me and I bumped into him in the lift.”
“Couple of days later, I got a call and he shared with me some footage of some
forthcoming venture which has not just been released as yet and I like the
footage a lot as the visuals were very strong. Then, he shared the narrative of
‘Torbaaz’ and he said that this is the film I am making and he shared a
videotape with me and he asked me if it resonates with me so I saw the footage
that he shared and it moved me a lot,” said Rahul.
