The iconic film Swades (2004), directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, completed 20 years on December 17. The film starred Shah Rukh Khan in the unforgettable role of Mohan Bhargav, a NASA scientist who returns to his homeland, which turns out to be his life-changing trip. The film starred many talented faces, one of which was Rahul Vohra. He played the role of Mohan’s colleague in NASA, Vinod. The actor has had an illustrious acting career before and after Swades. He graduated from the National School of Drama, was a part of the theatre group Chingari and has been honoured with Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des aka Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Rahul Vohra talked about his experience of working on Swades and a lot more.

20 Years of Swades EXCLUSIVE: Rahul Vohra reveals how NASA treated them like VIPs: “Shah Rukh Khan and I were gifted a RARE astronaut’s hat; Not even NASA director is allowed at the launch site but we had clearances from White House, CBI, US military, FBI”

How did you bag Swades?
My agent, Mona Irani, cast (lead actress) Gayatri Joshi. She happened to tell the AD that she represented some senior actors, including me, and shared our profile. A few days later, I got a call from Ashu’s (Ashutosh Gowariker) office, asking if I could do an audition for him. I replied that I’d do it for him very gladly. Even if a director is a 13-year-old, I’ll audition. I have an issue with those who came to do something else over here and became supposed casting directors. At times, they end up taking their perception of the scene to the director, which is totally different. Hence, I don’t like to audition unless it’s by the director.

I met Ashu in his office. I had prepared for a scene, and he asked me to sit and perform. I had prepped for it while standing and I asked him if I could do it both ways – sitting as well as standing. He allowed me to do the scene my way. He loved the audition and asked me to wait for 10 minutes. I stepped out in the garden to smoke. I saw that his staff was laying plates as it was lunch time. I realized that I should leave. I told Ashu that I would take my leave as he was about to have lunch. Ashu told me that the lunch was for both of us! We sat down and we chatted extensively. He asked me, ‘Tu kahan tha itna saal? Why haven’t we met?’.

I landed the film, but I had only one condition. I told him, ‘Mera koi scene mat kaat dena’! He handed me the script and replied, ‘Tu bhi director hai na? Read the script and show me where I can cut you out’. To his credit, he didn’t delete any scene of mine. He just cut one sentence, which was like ‘You see what I mean’. It didn’t make any difference if it got edited out.

How was it shooting for the film, especially at the NASA Headquarters?
It was fantastic. One FBI agent in an FBI car used to take us to NASA Headquarters, 7 kms away from the launch site if we had to smoke! Technically, nobody except the astronauts is allowed to go to the launch pad, not even the NASA director. You need extra clearances to do so. But we had clearances from the White House, CBI Headquarters at Langley Virginia, the US military and the FBI. We were allowed to go wherever we wanted in the NASA Headquarters.

Shah Rukh Khan was already a big superstar by then. 70% of the NASA employees were of Indian origin. They would crowd around Shah Rukh and ask for pictures. There was a certain Mr Patel, who was the head of the space shuttle imaging program. Once we were waiting for the shot and had one and a half hours of free time. Mr Patel approached Shah Rukh Khan and us and offered to take us to the NASA shop. We agreed, thinking that we’d buy some memorabilia. We bought some stuff and then, he offered to show his department. He took us to the big console which had access to 230-240 cameras monitoring a space shuttle. He told us, ‘If you click this button, you can access this particular camera, if you click the other button, you can access that particular camera’. Shah Rukh and I started playing with the monitor. We had a look at the front portion of the shuttle, and its tail and also saw live what the astronauts were doing at that time in that space shuttle!

Then, Mr Patel said that he was going to set up something for us. After five minutes, he showed us on a big screen a satellite passing over India. It was a beautiful sight.

Our wake-up call was at 3 am. From 3:30 am, we would start getting ready. At 4:30 am, we’d leave. By 5:45-5:50 am, we used to be outside the gates of NASA. We were allowed to shoot only from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm. At 6:00 am, the first vehicle was allowed to go in and at 6:00 pm, the last vehicle of the unit had to come out. Hence, we would be standing at the gates at 5:50 am.

One day, Bobbie Faye Ferguson, who once acted in the famous TV show Dynasty and who was the PR head of NASA while we were filming Swades, met me and asked me where Shah Rukh was. I told her that he had been accommodated in another hotel. She told me that she had got a gift for us. That gift was the hat that was given to the astronauts as they were shutting the doors of the space shuttle! I still have it somewhere.

For how many days did you shoot for Swades?
I shot for 13-14 days.

How was it working with Shah Rukh Khan?
It was wonderful. He is a fantastic superstar. He’s a year junior to me and we both started acting around the same time. We knew each other even when we were in Delhi. Even now, if I bump into him, he greets me warmly, to his credit. Half of the stars would forget who they worked with, but he remembers. When we smoked our first cigarette together, I said, ‘Tujhe yaad hai, tu TAG (Theatre Action Group) mein hota tha aur main Chingaari mein’. He replied, ‘Mujhe sab yaad hai aur pata hai. Tum log French theatre aur absurd theatre karte the aur hum log comedies karte the’ (laughs)!

Hence, it was great fun working with him and he was also accommodating as an actor. There’s a scene in the beginning where I tell Shah Rukh, ‘Promise to bring John an elephant or something’. Ashu had planned it another way. I provided an alternative to getting that shot done. Both were not satisfied with the idea, but they did it nevertheless. When they saw the scene on the monitor, they told me ‘This works. Let’s keep it like this’. At times, it is very difficult for an actor to do anything apart from what he has been told. But Shah Rukh improvises and is a powerful performer. Woh kuch bhi karta hai, woh chal jaata hai. That man is God-gifted (smiles).

What feedback did you get for your role in Swades?
I got hundreds of calls from actors, directors and producers saying ‘Beta, teri toh nikal padi’. They said that after doing this kind of role and working with Shah Rukh, one of the tallest actors, (I’d be getting a lot of offers). Even filmmakers who had rejected me before called and congratulated me. Then, for the next 13 ½ months, I didn’t shoot for a single day! I was performing shows in France and India, but no film offer came my way. I should have got some role in film or television.

It was sad that the film flopped, though everyone loved it. But the film continues to be remembered fondly…
Yes, sadly, the film wasn’t commercially successful, but people loved it. A few days ago, I was introduced to the daughter of an acquaintance at a wedding. The daughter recognized me. She was 18 or 19 and I was wondering how she knew me. She replied that she was a huge fan of Swades.

Did people start recognizing you more after Swades?
Not so much. Swades did contribute to it but at that point, I was also doing three TV soaps. That’s where the recognisability factor came from. But in the film industry, everyone remembers me for Swades.

What next?
I just did a film with Akshay Kumar called Sarfira. It was a big film but sadly, it just came and went. I also worked recently in Khufiya. As for my upcoming projects, I’ll be seen in Ground Zero, with Tiger Baby (co-starring Emraan Hashmi). I also acted in a web series called Kuul.

Also Read: 20 years of Swades EXCLUSIVE: DoP Mahesh Aney on the train scene where Shah Rukh Khan buys water, “Woh bachche ne phaad diya woh shot, and SRK in that scene was…”

More Pages: Swades Box Office Collection , Swades Movie Review

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