Upen Patel, a UK trained software engineer turned supermodel in India turned Bollywood actor personifies humility and amiability. Soft spoken Upen came to Chicago to be part of India Day Parade but a great number of his fans and Chicagoans had not to wait till the Parade day to see him in person.
Courtesy Bhavesh Patel of Sahil, the actor was introduced to his admiring fans- many a teenager and young one, and Upen had no compunction in shaking hands with all his admirers and having pictures with them. In a talk to this paper, Upen said that destiny has played a major role in shaping his career.
He had not idea that he would make acting as a career while studying software engineering at Hertfordshire, a UK college. “It was a chance that in the final year, I was approached by an acquaintance who asked me if I could model for a company. I had an athletic body and easy manners, and that probably induced the offer.
I accepted it and the things clicked. One thing led to the other and I sailed to India for still greener pastures,” he said. Incidentally, his father, a petro businessman in UK, had migrated from Kenya nearly three decades ago, and had raised his son to be a professional in the engineering field. But destiny had willed otherwise.
In India, he turned out to be a rage. After winning Zee TV’s supermodel hunt in the year 2002, Upen began signing modeling assignments such as Hugo Boss, Paul Smith and Zegna. He received the MTV Style Award, which led to many more endorsements including Tuscan Verve, Tommy Hilfiger, Provogue, D’damas Desire.
He has campaigned for international brands like Wendell Rodrick, Vikram Phadnis and Westside. He also assisted in the animation department of Main Prem ki Diwani Hoon. He appeared in the remix music video of the classic Bollywood song Kya Khoob Lagti Ho which also featured Udita Goswami.
It was three years ago that a leading film producer impressed by his look and modeling talent, offered to cast him in his film 36 China Town. “It was again destiny.
I was a bit flabbergasted and looked askance if I could really give justice to film acting. Ghai prodded me and made me join a school that offered training in acting,” he said. His Bollywood debut was in the murder mystery film 36 China Town. He played a Casanova type character suspected of murder.
Although the film was not a box office hit, Upen carved out name and fame for himself winning several debutante awards, including the IIFA Award for the role. His second film was Namastey London that was released in 2007. Here he played a supporting role. For a change, the film did well at the box office.
In the same year, his third film Shakalaka Boom Boom was released. The film did not fare good at the box office but Upen won plaudits for his performance. He received flak for his guest appearance in Ashwani Dheer’s One Two Three (2008). His upcoming films are Money Hain to Honey Hai, and Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani.
He has bagged a couple of film awards but one thing that is certain is that Upen has come to stay in Bollywood arena. He is quite optimistic about the Indian film industry in general and observed that there is a sea change in the theme- story, techniques, acting and budget.
There are small budget films and there are big budget films. There is a trend for multi-star films. The age old concept of love triangle and villain seeking to torpedo the union of lovers, some violence and some masala, are giving way to theme oriented films that catch the imagination of audience. He conceded that films are sexually more explicit but then it is a worldwide trend.
