Five years ago, he was at Oxford Bookstore for the script reading of Mr and Mrs Iyer. On Sunday evening, he was back, this time with a social message on his lips.

In an interactive session organised by Calcutta-based NGO Swayam, Rahul Bose (in picture right by Aranya Sen) spoke out on gender-sensitive issues. The topic for the evening — “Men of quality do not fear equality”.

The “man of quality” began with a brief account of his childhood. “I grew up in a family where my father was Bengali and my mother was not the stereotypical Bharatiya nari. My father’s idea of parental love was oil massages and cooking a few meals. He was hard working and less spectacular than my mother, who came across as dynamic, strong and forceful. At the very outset, we were given a fair amount of equality practice.”

The actor who recently starred with Mallika Sherawat in Pyaar Ke Side Effects, started his own NGO called The Foundation two weeks ago, because of the “frustration at not being able to step into a situation quickly”.

As part of the campaign to stop violence against women and girls, the one-and-a-half-hour session on Sunday saw college-students and Swayam social workers gather to try and bring about an attitudinal change in the mindset of the young Indian male. The discussion started with the hunter-nurturer concept of man and woman, and went on to India being a patriarchal country. It also covered the tools to combat violence against women and group-building stratagems. “We need to redefine the concepts of machoism and femininity,” pointed out a college student.

The idea was to mobilise public opinion and draw more people into the struggle for women’s rights. “Even a man being physically superior is questionable today. Rural women carry 30-40 kg on their heads and walk for miles,” said Anuradha Kapoor, director of Swayam.

On a lighter note, Rahul seconded the notion: “Yeah, dance with one woman for half an hour at a club and you’re finished. But the woman, she’s still out there!” he grinned.

It was not hard for the actor to grab the attention of the student crowd. Only this time it wasn’t the spiked hair, the funky cargoes or the rugby-rough body that worked, but the power of Rahul’s words.

“Ending violence against women” has also inspired Oxford Bookstore to host SHE, an exhibition of paintings depicting women, by Anita Gurbaxani. The exhibition commemorated the South Asian Women’s Day for Peace, Justice, Human Rights and Democracy on November 30. Part of the proceeds from the sale of art will benefit Swayam.