One of Bollywood’s most likable actors, Arjun Rampal, turned 53 on November 26. Arjun is not just an underrated, underplayed actor, but he is also a kind and warm human being. I remember meeting him for the first time on the sets of Vipul Shah’s Aankhen. He was with Mr Bachchan and Akshay Kumar shooting a train sequence. But Arjun was not intimidated by stardom. Arjun doesn’t get cowed down by the hierarchical system of working in the entertainment industry. That’s why he held his own so confidently against Shah Rukh Khan in Ra.One. He made his slow and steady way up the success ladder.
He was seen giving strong, undiluted performances in films by Prakash Jha (Rajneeti, Chakravyuha), especially Sudhir Mishra’s Inkaar and Nikhil Advani’s D Day. Arjun has worked hard to find his métier in life. He started off in Bollywood as a model and a close friend of designer Rohit Bal. It wasn’t a very respectful resume to get into a film career with. For a long time, Arjun was seen to be stiff and wooden on screen. It took him ages to journey from Rajiv Rai’s Pyar Ishq Mohabbat 2001 to the rock musician in Rock On .
Arjun Rampal has repeatedly surprised us with his scene-stealing performances. Arjun’s debut film Moksha (2001), directed by his mentor cinematographer Ashok Mehta, was a bit of a mess. What came across was an actor of arresting intensity who was willing to take career risks from the beginning. Arjun Rampal shone through the chaotic film as a lawyer who wants to work for and with the poor. Go back to this performance if you have forgotten how cogent a Rampal performance can be.
In Om Shanti Om (2007) playing a full-blown antagonist to Shah Rukh Khan, Arjun gave a knock-out performance as producer Mukesh Mehra who in a fit of rage kills his wife Deepika Padukone and is later snuffed out by her ghost. It is no secret that Arjun’s role was inspired by Pran in Madhumati. Suave villainy was in vogue.
In Rock On (2008), swamped by an ensemble cast of fair-to-fine actors, Arjun stood out as the band’s lead guitarist Joe Mascarenhas , torn and tormented, grappling with girlfriend problems, writing songs that no one would probably hear and inventing new excuses for living a lie in the musical band that he called home. Brooding, intense, and rebellious, Arjun won a richly deserved National Award for this performance.
Without doubt Arjun Rampal’s best to date is in Rajneeti (2010). In a vast cast of stars of every gender and shape , Arjun stood out as a Sanjay Gandhi doppelganger. As a power-hungry empirical politician there was something distinctly psychotic to the character. Arjun brought out the dark shades in the political figure without stumbling over the mounds of self-conscious, dynastic dynamics that director Prakash Jha had thrown in the way. Incidentally, Jha repeatedly tapped the best of Arjun in films like Chakravyuh and Satyagraha.
November 25 is Arjun’s sister Komal’s birthday. She is exactly a year younger and their birthdays are divided by 24 hours. So it is two days of birthday celebrations for Arjun.
