I quit acting in anger: Rahul Bhat

He made his acting debut with the tele-serial Heena way back in 1998. The serial ran for five years and Rahul Bhat who played the role of Sameer became an household name. Yet, the actor stayed away from TV to avoid overexposure and made his film debut with Yeh Mohabbat Hai followed by Nayee Padosan. The films did not do anything for his career and Rahul disillusioned with the kind of roles offered to him took a sabbatical from acting. Now, after eight years, the model-turned-actor is back with a lead role in Anurag Kashyap's Ugly. The film that has done the rounds of international film festivals - it was screened at Cannes and New York - has already won critical acclaim and is set to hit the theatres next week. Here Rahul talks about his journey, his search for good cinema and being back in action.

You have been away from the scene for a long time...
Yes, I am back after eight years. I stopped acting because of the kind of films that were offered to people like me who were relatively new and had no guidance. I quit the profession in anger.

What stopped you from doing TV?
As I said I just stopped acting so TV was also out of question. Instead, I decided to produce TV shows, but didn't act in them.

How did Ugly happen?
Anurag Kashyap and I know each other from our struggling days. We used to stay in the same locality and he would say 'you should be doing movies'. However, it was when he met me two years ago that he said he has a script for me. It was a challenging role and I immediately said yes. Sudhir Mishra saw me in the film and offered the title role in Aur Devdas. And just like that I am back, at least for the next one year I am booked (smiles).

What made Ugly challenging?
Ugly is a layered film. The basic story is about a girl who goes missing. However, the movie brings out several inter-personal relationships and how each of us is busy in our personal lives and selfish. To really bring out that emotion, I had to go deep into my inner self. I remember for a scene that was shot in Colaba's Irani Cafe, I had to break down. Even after Anurag said 'cut', I couldn't stop crying. Anurag tried to comfort me but in the end he also started weeping. The scene had really shaken us up. Besides, it was a demanding shoot. We shot on real locations in Mumbai and both me and Anurag decided to leave the comfort our homes and lived outside a hotel, the way we lived during out struggling days. We had a terrible time revisiting those days.

Why did Anurag keep you away from the media glare during the filming?
(Laughs) That was because he had told not be sleepless throughout the shoot. I used to hardly sleep for two to two-and-a-half hours. Since I was shown to be a drunkard, I used to actually drink on the sets. I had a wired look, which was the requirement of the film.

Now that it's releasing what are your expectations?
The film has been acclaimed at international film festivals. I was even nominated at the New York Film Festival. We've shot a kick ass film. Now it's up to the audience who are always complaining about watching the run-of-the mill fare to make this successful.

Tell us about Aur Devdas. This must be the fourth Devdas now...
Yes. But this is different from what you have seen so far. It is set against a political backdrop in Lucknow. I play the role of a rich guy, who just parties, is into drugs, etc, generally a wastrel. He is from a political family and one day he goes back to his roots to claim his rightful place. However, I did not drink to play the role of Devdas. I told Sudhir that since I had done a lot of drinking in Ugly, I had enough experience to play a drunkard!

What next?
I have several interesting offers, but am yet to take a call.