ARJUN RAMPAL | MODEL | BOLLYWOOD ACTOR |

Arjun Rampal hasn’t seen a runaway hit ever since he made his debut, but that’s not exactly bothering the hunky star. He talks to Gautam Buragohain about his slump in his career and his new exciting projects…

Arjun Rampal is still waiting patiently and knows his day will come, sooner or later. “I’m glad that producers haven’t lost their faith on me, in spite of my track record. They keep coming to me. I must have something to deserve that trust,” laughs Arjun Rampal, sitting in his posh flat overlooking the Arabian Sea. And there is no career stress either. “Just watching the sea from here gives me so much peace.”

When other model-turned-actors like John Abraham are going great guns professionally, how does Arjun Rampal explain the slump in his own career? “I alone can’t be blamed for that. Remember, it’s a team effort; an individual can’t be held responsible for the failure of a film,” Arjun Rampal explains and says, “I, too, have made few mistakes and have flaws, but now I’m more careful in choosing my projects. I read my script carefully before signing any film. I’m just couple of films old and I have still time to make it. My advantage is that I don’t have a particular image, and I don’t want to slot into any image. I’m an actor who can be easily moulded in any role and character.” Arjun Rampal said.

But of late Arjun Rampal hasn’t had too many offers. Rumour has it that this is because of the high price that he quotes. “Oh, that’s news to me!” Arjun Rampal says, surprised. “I will never make an issue over money, if the role is really that worth it. But I have purposely cut down on my projects to concentrate on quality work. My next release is ‘Yakeen’, with Priyanka Chopra. Without boasting, it’s the role of a lifetime. I have never played a character so complex in my career. It’s a psychological love story, with an unpredictable twist towards the end. And whoever has seen the movie can’t stop praising my performance. That’s the problem with me - though I have good critical appreciation for my work, my movies haven’t been greatly successful. I hope to break that jinx this time with ‘Yakeen’,” he informs us.

What else is happening in his career? “Besides ‘Yakeen’, I have signed a movie with Amitabh Bachchan called ‘Ek Ajnabee’. The only reason for signing the movie is that it has Amitji. When the producers told me that, I didn’t ask them about anything else,” he states.

Arjun Rampal is still waiting for his dream role. “It has to be a completely original role, not based on any character which has s already been done,” he says. Does he have anything in mind? “Yeah, I have one such - it’s a role from a period drama. I won’t reveal it now. But the character is very low key; not much research material is available on it.”

Loyalties change overnight in Bollywood. But Arjun Rampal keeps the faith. Arjun Rampal says he will always be thankful to buddy Rajiv Rai for having faith in him and giving him his first break. “I still remember - I showed Rajiv bits of my movie, ‘Moksha’. He had a glance at it and told me, ‘I will be stupid if I don’t sign you’. And I will always remain grateful to him for giving me ‘Pyaar Ishq Mohabbat’. Tomorrow, even if he wants me to do a five-minute role for him, I will be more than pleased to oblige,” promises Arjun Rampal.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 10th, 2005 at 2:07 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.