Sequels are so boring, says Rahul Bose

The 42-year-old actor who has been touted as 'the superstar of Indian art house cinema' says that most sequels fall short of the original and therefore don't interest him.

"I was never interested in working in these sequels in the first place because I find sequels very boring. It's like going to a party that is already over. I was offered the sequel to 'Jhankaar Beats' but I turned it down for the same reasons," the actor who was in the national capital to speak to school students for the social initiative 'Design For Giving' said.

But Bose gives the thumps up to the casting of Akshay Kumar, who will step into the shoes of Sid, the commitment phobe DJ in the sequel to 'Pyaar Ke Side Effects'.

"I think Akshay will be perfect as Sid, he has the spunk to carry off the character and Sonam Kapoor will also be a part of the project, so I think it will come out great," says Bose about the actor who is known as the 'Khiladi' of Bollywood.

The actor who has played a variety of characters from an anglicised bureaucrat in 'English August' to a sweeper in the upcoming 'Mumbai Chakachak' had been in news recently with the controversy surrounding the posters of his latest film 'Before The Rains'.

Though Bose is the central protagonist in the American production directed by Santosh Sivan, his picture didn't appear on the hoardings and a still of the American actor Linus Roache with Nandita Das, was used instead.

"I was hopping mad. The image was the one used for the American posters, with Linus and Nandita. They used the same for publicity purposes in India but the text below read Rahul Bose and Nandita Das. It was completely misleading, as if I have used some fairness cream and become a gora," Bose says.

"But as an actor you have limited control over these things but I made sure that it was rectified," says the actor, who played a man torn between loyalty to his British master and his own growing sense of nationalism in the period film set in Kerala.
When not busy working on his film projects, the actor has his hands full with the numerous social causes that he works for through his NGO, 'The Foundation' which deals with everything from education to child abuse to climate change.

"I am often asked why? Some people are of the opinion that it is just another publicity stunt but as far as my reasons are concerned, the answer is simple, I love my country and will keep doing everything I can to better it in some way," says Bose who is also on the board of the international organisation 'Citizens for Justice and Peace' based in New York.

While the actor plans to devote as much time to his social initiatives, he currently has his schedule packed with the back to back shooting of three films including Onir's upcoming 'I Am' series where he will play a gay man who is blackmailed because of his closeted sexuality.

"I have been working non stop. There are films that I am shooting for, films which I am promoting. So I sort of divide my time between films and my NGO and I am happy with that existence," says the actor.