Meet Rahul Roy, who debuted in Aashiqui, won Bigg Boss 1, now stars in Kanu Behl's Agra which premiered at Cannes 2023

Agra premiered at the ongoing 76th Cannes Film Festival in the Director's Fortnight section and received a five-minute standing ovation. The film stars Mohit Agarwal, Priyanka Bose, Vibha Chhibber, and Sonal Jha in prominent roles and marks the comeback of Rahul Roy. It is helmed by Kanu Behl, whose directorial debut and last feature film Titli was also premiered at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section in 2014.

Rahul made his acting debut with the musical romantic drama Aashiqui in which he was paired with another debutant Anu Aggarwal. The Mahesh Bhatt directorial became a blockbuster success, owing largely to its unforgettable soundtrack by Nadeem-Shravan with melodies such as Dheere Dheere, Nazar Ke Saamne, Bas Ek Sanam Chaahiye, Jaane Jigar Jaaneman, and Main Duniya Bhula Doonga among others. It went on to become the highest-selling album in the history of the Indian music industry.

The actor then appeared in multiple films such as Ghazab Tamasha, Sapne Sajan Ke, Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee, Game, Gumrah, Majhdaar, Naseeb, and Achanak among others but didn't taste success, apart from the fantasy horror film Junoon in which Roy's character turns into a tiger every full moon night. Some of his other projects in the 1990s were also shelved.

Rahul came back to the news in 2006 when he was one of the participants in the first season of the controversial reality show Bigg Boss. Hosted by Arshad Wari and aired on Sony Entertainment Television, the show ran for 86 days from November 2006 to January 2007. Rahul famously remained a silent spectator in the entire season and ended up winning the show beating Ravi Kishan and Carol Gracias in the Grand Finale. Rakhi Sawant, Amit Sadh, Rupali Ganguly, Kashmera Shah, and a few more celebrities were the other participants.

Coming back to Agra, in making for nearly six years, the Kanu Behl directorial was shot in 2019 near the city's defence cantonment area before, before Rahul suffered a brain stroke in late 2020. The actor underwent angiography of the brain and heart and medical treatment, which included speech therapy, diet, and meditation. He returned to films with Nitin Kumar Gupta's Walk, which highlights the plight of migrants during the Covid-19 pandemic-induced lockdown. The film is currently running in film festivals across the nation and is awaiting its release.

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