/> It would be bizarre if it wasn't so funny.

Rahul Bose who brought in his 40th birthday with a grand party and a lavish retrospect in Toronto on July 27 found himself stranded on Toronto airport on Wednesday morning.

"It was truly bizarre. Our flight took off at the stipulated time. We flew smoothly for two hours. And then suddenly the aircraft developed a serious snag. So we were flown right back to Toronto ...And here I am, whiling away my time waiting to get another flight," said Rahul from Toronto.

Since he had missed his connecting flight in Frankfurt, Rahul had to be re-adjusted for his entire flight back from from Toronto to Mumbai.

"But I really don't mind. I had myself a rollicking time at the Festival. My 40th birthday party was held at Toronto's poshest night club the Liberty Grand which is almost like an open-air cathedral. Yes, there was a cake... and about 1,000 guests from all over the world."

Rahul was also given a citation at the festival ( Masala Mehndi Masti) for his contribution to the arts. "And then there was a discussion on how much fun acting can be."

The Canadians took to Rahul's non-masala repertoire like fish to water.

"Though the conventional Bolywood song-and-dance formula was completely missing from my repertoire they had a great deal of curiosity about Pyar Ke Side Effects, English, August and of course my directorial film Everybody Says I'm Fine...Not to say that Bollywood isn't indentified with the song-and-dance formula any more. No! That remains the perfect Bollywood.

But my kind of urban contemporary cinema is opening up a new Indian reality for international audiences," says Rahul from Toronto.

He returns to Toronto in September with Santosh Sivan's Before The Rains where he Rahul plays the lead.

"I think my romance with Canada has just started...If only my passage back to my country won't be this difficult next time," he concluded trying to get his flight-map into place.