90s superstar Rahul Roy opens up on why he walked away from films at the peak of his career

Every Bollywood star actor harbours the dream of a big debut and Rahul Roy was one of those rare heroes in B-town who tasted success with his very first film.  After a successful debut in Mahesh Bhatt's musical directorial Rahul witnessed a dip in his career. The Junoon star failed to replicate the success of his first film and thereby faded from the public memory. In an interview with Pinkvilla, Rahul opened up about how  he chose to stay away from Bollywood after his subsequent failures. Rahul said, when I came out with Aashiqui, I was where and after that whether I did a Junoon or whichever films, I could not reach those heights, I accept that.  

Speaking about why he chose to stay away from Bollywood, Rahul said that after he turned 30, he wanted to get married. “Being an actor, it is very difficult...I applaud those that can...but it is very difficult to do cinema as well as fulfil family responsibilities. Because cinema takes a lot out of you. When I got married (to model Rajlaxmi Khanvilkar) in 2000, I said, ‘Let’s take a break. Let me work on my personal relationship,’” he said. Rahul also admitted that his films at the time were not doing very well and though he was getting offers, they did not excite him. “My growth as an actor had stagnated. You’re doing the same role again and again, and in that time, everybody’s perception is ki isko yehi karte raho (make him do the same thing). It was a combination of a lot of things,” he said.

However, 2005 brought about a big change in his professional career after he signed up with popular reality show Big Boss which he won. Rahul's win at Big Boss did pave his way back into the limelight but since the dynamics of the film business had changed with agency culture being adopted the films captured less attention. On the work front, Rahul Roy's forthcoming acting venture-The Walk- on migrant workers plight, marks  his comeback to Hindi cinema after three decades of his debut.