Wall Street Journal, India (Part 2)

Bollywood Journal: Rahul Khanna on Life Outside India

By Beth Watkins

In part two of an interview continued from last week, actor Rahul Khanna tells The Wall Street Journal’s India Real Time about studying film in New York while working unglamorous part-time jobs, his multi-cultural, genre-defying career, and his upcoming projects. Edited excerpts:

Wall Street Journal, India (Part 1)

Bollywood Journal: Rahul Khanna, the Wit of Twitter
by Beth Watkins 

Bollywood actor Rahul Khanna, who has somehow won few heroines’ hearts in his recent films, tweets about Hemingway, bow ties and chocolate bars.
In the last few years, Mr. Khanna has added some plum roles in well-done romances to his international and genre-defying resumé. He has also been using Twitter to win the affections of filmi fans who appreciate spelling, wit and the occasional goofy photo in online updates.
The Wall Street Journal’s India Real Time spoke with the actor about his unique use of Twitter, his multi-cultural filmography and his thoughts on the film industry. Edited excerpts:

The First #InternationalTwistOff

I've been following Canadian writer @ArjunBasu on Twitter for a while now and enjoyed the novelty of his "twisters" (the term he uses for his 140-character short short stories). Of course, being somewhat of a word-nerd, I wanted to play, too and challenged him to a "twist-off".

Via several emails, over several months, we finally found a date and time that would work for both of us and decided on the following format: 10 chapters ÷ (2 tweeters x 2 continents) = 1 micro-novel. As he was in Montreal and I, in Bombay, we would approach it like a long-distance game of chess with one of us making a "move" in the form of a 140-character chapter (we'd each get 5) that the other had to respond to with their own chapter, keeping the story flowing until the end.

For anyone who likes the esoteric and silly, here's how the first #InternationalTwistOff played out (read from the bottom, up):

In A Twitter for Rahul Khanna: An Interview

Hello gorgeous...!

By Beth Watkins

 

Before I started following him on Twitter, here's what I knew about Rahul Khanna. In a resumé that is modest in size by Bollywood standards, he had attended a film and theater program in New York whose alumni roster includes many other names you know, won a Filmfare Award, and worked with people as diverse as Imtiaz Ali, Deepa Mehta, Konkona Sen Sharma, and Mithun. He spoke up for animals, blogged a bit, and, wherever he appeared, looked completely at home in a suit. And then, thanks to his incredibly real-sounding and personality-filled tweets, we filmi fans learned a little more: the foibles of his family's pets, his admirable balance of yoga with chocolate, his interest in art and literature...and, Helen above, the man can write.

In a sea of celebrity tweets full of SMS spellings, extraneous exclamation marks, and vapid retweets and project promotion, here was someone who communicates real thought and character and likes talking with fans. From the moment he first sent me a direct message—a response to my enthusiastic support of his love for his espresso machine—I wanted to find out more about why he uses Twitter so differently than other actors. This fall he graciously talked with me about his use of and thoughts on Twitter. His replies were full of his usual thoughtful content and charm—happily unfettered by 140 characters and spaces.