There is so much to be done

He debuted in a film by a controversial director with some of the best actors. Rahul Khanna has come a long way from his stubbled look in Deepa Mehta’s Earth starring Aamir Khan and Nandita Das. He gained the limelight as the handsome NRI in Bollywood Hollywood who marries Lisa Ray. But it is upcoming film Elaan, that releases nationwide this week, which has him in the limelight once again. “I did not require prosthetic make-up for my character in the film. It was an ordinary urban guy.”
In Elaan, Rahul Khanna playa the role of Karan Shah, who was a street urchin selling tea at the roadside before a successful businessman adopted him. When his foster father is killed ny the henchmen of an underworld don, he draws up a team of five members —Arjun Rampal, John Abraham, Lara Dutta, Amisha Patel (who plays his love interest in the film) and himself. They take it on themselves to bring the don (played by Mithun Charaborty) to India and see that justice is done.“I have faced many questions about this being my first Bollywood film but I feel there were hints of that in Bollywood Hollywood as well.” He adds in the same breath, “I do agree that this is the first full-of-stunts, action Hindi film that I am doing.”
The transformation was not a difficult one for him at all. “My father has been a Bollywood veteran, my brother has also made his mark, there was no reason why I should not have joined the club. I really enjoyed filming for Elaan. We shot in Europe in the middle of winter in four feet of snow. It was very physically demanding but I loved all the stunts.”
Rahul Khanna, born and brought up in Mumbai comes from a family of Bollywood lineage and was only happy to go along with the custom. He studied in the Acting and Film School in New York before he returned to India to make a career out of acting. He says his father Vinod Khanna has been an immense source of inspiration for him.
But it is not only family ties he wants to discuss right now. “I think Mithun Chakaravorty is to Hindi films as a Bentley is to cars. He has perfected the nuances of film-making and helps his co-stars to give their best shot,” he says. Though he has no problems in admitting that he has absolutely no projects on hand right now, he says, “I want to more of everything, be it crossover films or Hindi films. I am open for projects."

Published in Hindustan Times Next on January 13, 2005