Buddhadeb Dasgupta's "Kaal Purush", which has just been selected in the prestigious "Masters Section" at the Toronto International Film Festival, seems to have got its leading man addicted to his native tongue.

That's right. Rahul Bose, just back from South Africa after shooting an ad, is now doing another Bengali film.

Says Rahul, "It's a film called 'Anuranan' to be directed by Annirudh Roy Chowdhary. After 'Kaal Purush', I'm confident of my Bengali. And I was very sure about the director's intentions."

The film will also star Rituparna Sengupta and Raima Sen.

The other interesting film in Hindi that Rahul has signed is to be directed by Ranjit Kapoor who wrote "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron". "It's a courtroom drama entitled 'Short Cut' about my interaction with four old men," he says.

Besides Rahul, the film will feature Pankaj Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. The two films will be completed by the year-end.

Rahul is also all set to do his first international project "The Whisperers" in 2006. Directed Rajiv Virani, it's an English-language film being funded internationally about the relationship between two men.

Says Rahul, "I don't think it's a big deal to be in an international project. What really fascinates me about 'The Whisperers' is that I'm acting in a film written by me.

"But that doesn't mean my plans to direct again are on the backburner. I'm definitely going to direct my second film in 2006 ... come what may."

His directorial debut was "Everybody Says I'm Fine".

A huge high for Rahul is the interactive process with his co-stars.

"It's so fascinating to work with actors as diverse as Mithun Chakraborty in 'Kaal Purush' and Shabana Azmi in Aparna Sen's '15 Park Avenue'...or for that matter Bhoomika Chawla in 'Silsiilay'.

Mithunda who plays my father in 'Kaal Purush' was such a revelation. He's a storehouse of experiences and knowledge about cinema. I was enthralled by his creative energy."

Rahul's plate looks full. But there's a hunger for a lot more.