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Rahul Bhat

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Not to be confused with Rahul Bhatt.
Rahul Bhat
Bhat in 2020
Born
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Occupation(s)Actor, television producer, model
Years active1998-2003; 2013–present

Rahul Bhat is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He began his career as a fashion model and participated in the Graviera Mr. India contest in 1998, and subsequently worked in several advertisements and music videos. He gained fame for his leading role in the television serial Heena from 1998 to 2003. After starring in the films Yeh Mohabbat Hai (2002) and Nayee Padosan (2003), he took a sabbatical from acting and began producing television serials, including Meri Doli Tere Angana (2007–2008) and Tum Dena Saath Mera (2009).

Bhat made his acting comeback with a leading role in Anurag Kashyap's thriller film Ugly (2013), for which he received critical acclaim.[1] He has since appeared in Fitoor (2016), Daas Dev (2018), Section 375 (2019), and Kashyap’s Dobaaraa (2022), and Kennedy (2023).

Life and career

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Early life and work

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Bhat was born in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India into a Kashmiri Pandit family.[2][3]

Bhat began his career as a fashion model. In 1998, he participated in the Graviera Mr. India contest, where he won the Mr Photogenic award.[4][5] He did advertisements for Pond's and Breeze detergent,[6] and appeared in music videos like "Soni Lag Gayee" with Pakistani singer Sajjad Ali, and "Punjabi Munda" for Tips Industries.[4] He gained popularity for his role opposite Simone Singh in Heena, a top-rated soap opera on Sony Entertainment Television, which aired for five years from 1998 to 2003.[7][8][9]

Bhat had his first film role in the romantic drama Yeh Mohabbat Hai in 2002, directed by Umesh Mehra.[10] The film was not well received, but Priyanka Bhattacharya of Rediff.com found him “sincere” and Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama opined that he had made a “decent debut”.[11][12] The following year, he starred in the comedy Nayee Padosan, in which he played dual roles of a Tamil man and a don.[13]

Disillusioned with the kind of roles he was being offered, Bhat took a sabbatical from acting.[14] He instead began his own production company Filmtonic Entertainment, under which he produced television soap operas such as Meri Doli Tere Angana (2007–2008), Chhukar Mere Man Ko (2007), and Tum Dena Saath Mera (2009).[1][15] He has said about this period, "I quit acting because I was angry. I did not want to do B and C grade projects. I wanted to work on good scripts and with committed filmmakers. But nothing came my way and that made me unhappy."[1]

Return to acting

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Bhat at the premiere of Ugly at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival[16]

The filmmaker Anurag Kashyap approached Bhat to play the part of a struggling actor whose daughter is kidnapped in his thriller film Ugly (2013).[17] To prepare for his role, Bhat started consuming alcohol heavily and deprived himself of sleep to create dark circles around his character's face.[18] For a sequence, where Bhat had to cry, Kashyap kept talking to him for three hours and he eventually broke down and wept. The camera kept rolling during that period.[19] Ugly premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival where it received standing ovation.[20][21] It was also screened at the New York Indian Film Festival and the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.[22][23][24] Arunava Chatterjee of India Today called Ugly a "pathbreaking crime fiction" and found Bhat to be “outstanding” in it.[25] Brian Clark of Screen Anarchy added that Bhat "does especially impressive work transitioning his character through some demanding plot twists and power shifts".[26]

Three years later in 2016, Bhat played a role opposite Katrina Kaif in the romantic drama Fitoor and alongside Priyanka Chopra in the crime film Jai Gangaajal.[3][27] In a review for the latter film, Srijana Mitra Das of The Times of India wrote that even in a small role, he had played his character's "radicalism with aplomb".[28]

The following year, Bhat had a leading role in Union Leader, an Indian-Canadian drama about a chemical factory supervisor who raises the issue of worker's health and safety against an unsympathetic management.[3][29] Anna M. M. Vetticad wrote that Bhat had brought an "X factor to his performance" which exceeded the screenplay's limitations.[30]

Bhat starred in Sudhir Mishra’s romantic drama Daas Dev (2018), a retelling of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel Devdas set in the political landscape of Uttar Pradesh, in which he played the lead role opposite Aditi Rao Hydari and Richa Chaddha.[31] In 2019, he appeared alongside Chaddha and Akshaye Khanna in the courtroom drama Section 375. He played a Bollywood director accused of rape. Rajeev Masand wrote that he “does well as the arrogant director”. [32]

In 2021, Bhat starred in Man Naked, an experimental single-shot short film.[33] Bhat reunited with Anurag Kashyap in 2022, in Dobaaraa, a remake of the Spanish mystery film Mirage, starring Taapsee Pannu.[34] Anupama Chopra found Bhat's to be the "most notable character" in the film and added that his "frayed good looks and exhausted manner infuse a much-needed comic edge into the film".[35]

In 2023, Kashyap’s latest film Kennedy premiered at Cannes Film Festival and received an overwhelming response. It has since screened in Sydney Film Festival and BIFAN. [36]

Filmography

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Bhat in 2014
Year Film Role Notes
2002 Yeh Mohabbat Hai Chaand Nawaab
2003 Nayee Padosan Prabhu
2013 Ugly Rahul Kapoor
2016 Fitoor Bilal
2016 Jai Gangaajal Pawan
2017 Union Leader Jay Gohil
2018 Daas Dev Devdas
2019 Section 375 Rohan Khurana
2021 Man Naked Ronnie Short film
2022 Dobaaraa Vikas Awasthi
2023 Kennedy Kennedy

Television

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Year Show Role Notes
1997 Jai Hanuman Sujuti
1998-2003 Heena Sameer
2002 Draupadi Krishna
2007–2008 Meri Doli Tere Angana  – Producer
2007 Chhukar Mere Man Ko  – Producer
2009 Tum Dena Saath Mera  – Producer

References

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  1. ^ a b c Fernandes, Bradley (10 March 2015). "I'm not cut out for chamchagiri". Filmfare. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Runway star hits stardust". Hindustan Times. 15 August 2003. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Sinha, Seema (26 April 2018). "Rahul Bhat on Daas Dev: Can't portray Devdas the way Dilip Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan did". Firstpost. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  4. ^ a b Seth, Sheetal (14 December 2001). "'I want to be where Amitabh Bachchan is'". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Love in times of violence". The Tribune. 8 February 2002. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  6. ^ "No ifs for this Bhatt". The Times of India. 19 March 2002. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  7. ^ Sharma, Suruchi (11 November 2010). "No goodbye to acting: Rahul Bhatt". The Times of India. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  8. ^ Das, Anirban (14 February 2015). "No time for TV: Rahul Bhat". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  9. ^ Misra, Iti Shree (11 September 2014). "Rahul Bhatt: Now the film industry is not just a few people's playground". The Times of India. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  10. ^ "The new improved Rahul Bhatt". The Times of India. 5 October 2001. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  11. ^ Bhattacharya, Priyanka (8 February 2002). "Love's labour lost". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  12. ^ Adarsh, Taran (7 February 2002). "Yeh Mohabbat Hai Movie Review". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  13. ^ Chakravorty, Vinayak (7 June 2003). "Nayee Padosan". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  14. ^ Unnikrishnan, Chhaya (19 December 2014). "I quit acting in anger: Rahul Bhat". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  15. ^ Poojary, Sapna (21 November 2013). "Rahul back in limelight". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  16. ^ PTI (24 May 2013). "Kashmiri actor Rahul Bhat proud to walk Cannes red carpet". Mid-Day. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  17. ^ Ghosh, Sankhayan (2 January 2015). "Anurag Kashyap says he is bored with his own ideas". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 4 January 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  18. ^ "I became harsh on myself to prepare for 'Ugly': Rahul Bhat". The Indian Express. 25 December 2014. Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  19. ^ Upadhyay, Karishma (26 December 2014). "Ugly truth of Anurag". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  20. ^ "Ugly receives a standing ovation at Cannes". Filmfare. 22 May 2013. Archived from the original on 3 June 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  21. ^ Baker, Steven (30 May 2014). "Anurag Kashyap's Ugly wins critical acclaim in Cannes". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 27 June 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  22. ^ "My personal life is nobody's business: Anurag Kashyap". Deccan Chronicle. 29 June 2014. Archived from the original on 8 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  23. ^ "Anurag Kashyap's 'Ugly' to open New York Indian film festival". Daily News and Analysis. 1 April 2014. Archived from the original on 4 April 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  24. ^ "Ugly". Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 25 December 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  25. ^ Chatterjee, Arunava (26 December 2014). "Ugly review: It is a pathbreaking crime fiction". India Today. Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  26. ^ Clark, Brian (17 May 2013). "Cannes 2013 Review: Anurag Kashyap's UGLY Is a Riveting Thriller About Awful Things". Screen Anarchy. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  27. ^ Rahul Bhat to star opposite Katrina Kaif in 'Fitoor'. India Today. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  28. ^ "Jai Gangaajal Movie Review". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  29. ^ Bird, Cullen (8 September 2017). "Local filmmaker releasing Hindi-language feature film". Fort McMurray Today. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017.
  30. ^ Vetticad, Anna MM (19 January 2018). "Union Leader movie review: Rahul Bhat, Tillotama Shome's film is simplistic but heartfelt". Firstpost. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  31. ^ Sinha, Seema (25 April 2018). "Daas Dev is a political story with Shakespearean treatment and strong romantic base, says Sudhir Mishra". Firstpost. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  32. ^ Rajeev, Rajeev (14 September 2019). "Section 375 Movie Review: Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha's Performances Make for Compelling Courtroom Drama". News18. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  33. ^ "Rahul Bhat to play 40-year-old in Sanjeev Kaul's 'Man Naked'". The New Indian Express. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  34. ^ Kumar, Anuj (18 August 2022). "'Dobaaraa' movie review: Anurag Kashyap, Taapsee double the adrenaline". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  35. ^ Chopra, Anupama. Dobaaraa Movie Review. Film Companion. 3.06 minutes in. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  36. ^ "76th Cannes Film Festival: Actor Rahul Bhat on filmmaker Anurag Kashyap's Kennedy, and working with Sunny Leone". Money Control. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
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