“Do I Have To Be Reminded Of My Age?” Arjun Rampal On Turning 46
Arjun Rampal couldn’t be happier. And it’s not just because it was his birthday on November 26.
On November 25 was my sister Komal’s birthday. She is exactly a year younger and our birthdays are divided by 24 hours. So a day before my birthday we brought in her birthday and then we went on with my birthday.So it was two days of birthday celebrations,” says Arjun.
No noisy birthday party for Arjun,though. “It’s just around 30 close friends, meeting up having a good time together. Nothing else.After you reach a certain age, you no longer want to indulge in wild parties . You just want to be with close family and friends.I’ve seen enough of that life. I’ve walked on the wild side. Now I like my life calm.Spending time with my wife and two daughters gives me a bigger high than anything else.”
On the career front, Arjun’s last release was his ambitious bio-pic on Arun Gawli. “Daddygot me what I wanted. It was meant to be a reasonably-budgeted film showing us a side toGawli not seen before. My performance was appreciated. Everybody went home happy.”
Arjun’s next release is J P Dutta’s Paltan, a war movie which Arjun is thoroughly enjoying shooting. “It’s my first time with J P Dutta and also my first war movie.I’ve always enjoyed the film of that genre specially JP Saab’s Refugee and Border. I am glad to be in one.”
He next goes into a film called Nastik which is about an atheist. “In real life too I don’t believe in God. I believe in worshipping the Universe. The film has an interesting script and the director Shailesh Varma is very talented. It is important to work with the new enthusiastic talent. That’s the only way to take the industry forward.”
At 46 what are Arjun’s thoughts on his life and life according to Bollywood’s rules?
“Do I have to be reminded of my age? But seriously, I couldn’t have asked for more. I’ve arocksteady family life and a career that is known for being adventurous. As far as the film industry is concerned, I see a lot of intolerance within the industry and from outside the film industry towards actors filmmakers and our work. This is very frightening. We must stop being pre-judging art before the artiste puts forward his idea to the public.”
