Kennedy actor Rahul Bhat on migrating from Kashmir when he was 15: Things that happen to you as a teenager it shapes your life
Rahul Bhats Kennedy, directed by Anurag Kashyap, will premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Bhat has been away from the limelight for a very long time. In fact, in his last interview with indianexpress.com, the actor opened up about quitting television at his peak after becoming a star with his show Heena in 1998. In this interview, Bhat reveals how he migrated from Kashmir to Mumbai and found his calling in the entertainment industry and never wants to go back home, as the city of dreams is home now. It is a story of perseverance more than struggle. Bhat quotes Rahi from Rekhta, Ziddi bada hoon main, and adds, The whole song is about passion and how I wont give up and leave before I see myself where I envisioned being. I just know that about myself. Every actor has their own approach. Some people go to NFD and FTII, I think thats the best way to get around this. I wasnt fortunate enough to do that because migration happened around the time and I am a Kashmiri Pandit. Those days were difficult for us even as a family. We had just migrated from Kashmir, my parents were not that doing well, whole community was not doing well but I wanted to be an actor. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rahul Bhat (@itsrahulbhat) Rahul Bhat emphasises that he has not struggled in life even if there have been times when he had to pick up work for money. The actor chose this lifestyle. I have not struggled; I need to tell you this. It is perseverance. I could have gone on and on and fizzled out or I could say ok enough, I have other options. I could do so many things, but I wanted to be an actor. I chose my path. Bhat then reminisces about the time when opportunities came to him quite quickly. He says, I was lucky enough I got into modelling soon enough and became the best face in India. I also became Graviera Mr. India. I started modelling for top brands and walking the ramp for top designers. It happened very quickly and then Heena happened. I was only 21. Everything kind of came my way very quickly but I had no experience in acting. And then Yeh Mohabbat Hai happened. Umesh Mehra was a great director at the time, he had directed Sabse Bada Khiladi, International Khiladi, all big Akshay Kumar films. He was a top director. I got that break every early in my life, and then Nitin Manmohan offered me Nayee Padosan. He was a big producer, and the film also did fairly well. However, Yeh Mohabbat Hai didnt do well, but I had a lot of offers for films. But those were not the kind of films I wanted to do. I understood that if I do these films Id burn out. Id become one of those B grade actors and my game would be over. Id be over. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rahul Bhat (@itsrahulbhat) The actor says he chose to do less work and work on himself more and in the process he ended up learning a lot from filmmakers he worked with, Anurag Kashyap being the latest. I think maybe I think I was right because of that I am still valid. I wouldnt name anyone but many actors who came with me have fizzled out. I think I kept doing the right thing. I did Ugly, and I did Daas Dev with Sudhir Mishra. I also did Union Leader, an Indo-Canadian film. So, cinema somehow kept me going, even if that means I had less work to do. I also learned a lot from all the makers I worked with. I also did Fitoor. I worked with some of the most interesting directors. When asked to take us through his journey, the time when he had to migrate from his homeland Kashmir during the exodus, Rahul Bhat shared how he was only fifteen when he left Kashmir and the exodus really impacted his life thereafter. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rahul Bhat (@itsrahulbhat) I was fifteen when we migrated from Kashmir. And the whole migration was a turmoil that has left a great effect on my heart and on my mind because things that happen to you as a teenager, it shapes your life. We were Kashmiri Pandits, and due to the whole exodus, we all had to go out of Kashmir. So we went to Jammu where I went to college and I came to Mumbai when I was 19. I was a good student. I could easily get into engineering or medicine but I wanted to be an actor. I asked my father what I should do to become an actor and we had only heard that Id need to go to Mumbai and thats what I did. I was stupid. I should have studied acting. After coming here, I came to know that acting also needs a lot of work and there is lot of learning. The kind of acting I wanted to do, the kind of actor I wanted to become, was not one of those you know That happens only if you are very lucky in the film industry that aapki picture bohot chal jaati hai and you become a star. If your film doesnt do well then it is a very uphill task. I was ready for that uphill task and here I am. When asked if he ever went back home, the actor said, No. Not yet. I went once ten years ago, and they all came out and opened their homes but it was like a tourist. I was a tourist. But I feel in my heart that now Kashmiri Pandits are so (successful), they have all settled outside the valley, everybody is doing something. If I am an actor here, I am not going to leave my acting and settle in Kashmir. That time has gone. Those people who wanted to return home are dead and gone. It was the generation of my grandparents; my grandparents are dead. The grand kids, people of my generation, are all doing something. They are all over the world. They wont leave their jobs and return unless, I feel, something great happens. There is a saying that the light we see on the other end of the tunnel could be another train coming. Thats the whole Kashmir issue. I dont know, it is a very sad story."
Friday, May 19, 2023 at 4:35 am