Arjun Rampal is wiser at 46

Arjun Rampal couldn’t be happier. And it’s not just because the dapper actor celebrated his birthday yesterday. “The day before was my sister Komal’s birthday,” he smiles. “She’s exactly a year younger, and our birthdays are 24 hours apart. So, a day before my birthday, we brought in hers, and then went on with mine. It’s just two days of birthday celebrations for us.”

No noisy birthday parties for Arjun, though. “It’s just around 30 close friends meeting up and 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,” he says.

On the career front, Arjun’s latest biopic on Arun Gawli did well for him. “Daddy got me what I wanted,” he says. “It was meant to be a reasonably-budgeted film showing us a side to Gawli we had not seen before. My performance was appreciated and everybody went home happy.”

The actor is now working on J.P. Dutta’s Paltan, a war movie. He will also work on a movie 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’s important to work with enthusiastic new talent. That’s the only way to take the industry forward,” he nods.

At the age of 46, what are Arjun’s thoughts on his life and Bollywood? “Do I have to be reminded of my age?” he laughs. “But seriously, I couldn’t have asked for more. I have a rock steady family life and a career that’s known to be adventurous. As far as the film industry is concerned, I see a lot of intolerance within the industry and from outside it towards actor filmmakers and our work. This is very frightening. We must stop prejudging art before the artiste puts forward his idea to the public.”