Candid chat over coffee with beautiful Rukhsar Rehman

Click on the pic to view slideshow How often does one come across a person from the glamour world who can genuinely talk and be concerned about the thinning fabric of our society, political disorder, flagging infrastructure or pretentious women’s rights organizations? I met one such actor who is into films as well as television and she is Rukhsar Rahman. The venue was fixed at Di Bella Coffee, the famous Australian coffee bar with a distinctive Italian look, in Bandra. The place is renowned for its range of blends unique to the café and occupies a corner section of the bookstore Title Waves. Charming Rahul Leekha of Di Bella Coffee was kind to invite us over for this meeting. Our lunch meeting got pushed to hi-tea due to last minute schedules popping up. From the glass frontage of the café, I saw a svelte Rukhsar in jeans and blue top sans make-up, looking attractive and striking with her long, silky and waist-length tresses, approaching the coffee shop . After customary greetings we found ourselves seated in the prescribed space. The interactive digital menu was offered to us which boasted of, but naturally, a variety of coffees – hot and cold – and iced teas, nutritious salads, snacky delights like sandwiches, puffs, croissants, cakes and muffins. I discovered Rukhsar is a ‘dal-chawal’ and ‘chai’ person, nevertheless she was okay with Café Mocha minus the whipped cream while I went for their signature Ali Reserve Premium which is balanced and smooth on the palate. The actor better known for her roles in Ram Gopal Verma’s Sarkar and D in films and as Dr Mallika with grey shades in Kuch To Log Kahenge on Sony Entertainment Television has effortlessly adapted to the diverse working hours. Presently… she is busy learning Tulu language as she is playing a Mangalorean character opposite Suneil Shetty in Vishram Sawant's action film Shooter. So why was her marriage to director Faruk Kabir under wraps for a year? She started her film career with Allah Ke Banday as she went on to reveal, “Faruk was the director. We fell in love with each other and got married. Around this time the movie was slated for release and we did not want our marriage to be written about as that would take away the focus from the film.” I also tried the Fire-Water-Chocolate Fondue in white Belgian chocolate served with fresh seasonal fruits and marshmallows was presented in a fondue tower and Tutti-Fruitti Waffle in which warm waffle drizzled with pure Belgian milk chocolate and ice-cream - sinfully divine! Rukhsar is an avid reader and we talked about Khalid Hosseini’s The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns which are my favorites too. We discussed books, politics and RGV whom she feels is a good director but complicated to understand as a person. She is a light eater and settled for just a Chocolate Muffin. After chatting for some more when it was time to leave, Rukhsar gifted me a copy of the holy book of Bhagavad Gita printed by ISKCON which I accepted with reverence. We took leave of each other with the promise of meeting her soon for something left unsaid and a Kashmiri repast which happens to be her favored cuisine.