E-Paper
Bose seen, not heard
Very few people at this week?s do at the Olive Bar & Kitchen seemed to know who the evening?s guests were.
Delhi’s party people only want to be seen and heard, it seems. Listening isn’t something they enjoy, not even if the talking’s being done by speakers like senior journo Tarun Tejpal and the articulate and multifaceted Rahul Bose.
To begin with, very few people at this week’s do at the Olive Bar & Kitchen seemed to know who the evening’s guests were. “We sent mailers to all our members but not necessarily all would have checked it,” said A.D. Singh, the owner.
After screening some clippings from Bose’s films on a giant screen, Tejpal and he grabbed a microphone and began to talk.
“So what do you think of Indian cinema,” Tejpal asked. Bose replied animatedly, appearing to be speaking from the heart. There was only one problem: not a word could be heard.
Not that anybody appeared bothered. The din the crowd made drowned Bose’s voice completely. Realising that the corner fo the bar was not the best place to be stationed at, Bose and Tejpal moved towards the middle — but the situation did not change drastically. Barkha Dutt kept trying to get the crowd to keep quiet, We, the people style, with limited success.
The décor was kept to match Bose’s personality — unassuming. (This is an Olive special: with designer Ranna Gill, the theme was Moroccan complete props.) Framed pictures of Bose in rugby gear, and articles written by him on issues close to his heart, hung on the white wall.
Bose was in a spotless white tee and denims. “It takes me just eight seconds to decide what to wear,” he said. For the man who’d read the classics at 12, “even before (he) could understand them”, creative satisfaction is above everything else. That’s why he has declined about 70-80 movie offers. “I want to do something that is satisfying.”
“I don’t have the fame to be recognised by truckers in Jaipur. I think of myself as a human being. I have a five-star mind but not a five-star lifestyle.”
One conclusion was clear: If Delhi failed to lend him its ears, it was probably Delhi’s loss, not his.
