Arjun Rampal in EMI

After being just another model-turned-actor trying to make it big in tinsel town, Arjun Rampal is now a star bankable at the box office. Just one Rock On!! has changed the way people perceive the ever-affable actor. So much so that Arjun has got top billing in the posters of EMI, releasing this Friday, alongside Sanjay Dutt. t2 quizzed the handsome hunk on the whole new feeling of success...

How does it feel to finally get recognition from the masses?

It feels great! This is why we work in the first place... that people watch us and like us and give lots and lots of love.

It took you seven years to get noticed. Has the recognition come too late?

As long as a human being is alive, it’s never too late. Some time or the other, all of us will go out and do it. I think all of us will have our time in this lifetime... Our moment. Perhaps this is my time. It is what you do with that time, that moment... whether you can make most of the opportunities.

But have you ever analysed why it took you this long?

One thing is for sure, when you come into the industry from outside, it does take time. It takes time to understand the medium, to understand your work, to understand the way it works around here.

Do you think your modelling background has worked against you?

I wouldn’t be able to say that. The modelling industry did give me a lot. The fact is I modelled for only three years of my life. I retired after that because I got bored of it. I never looked at modelling as the ultimate thing. After a point of time, modelling seemed very superficial to me. I am not that kind of a person. I look for things which are deeper and those which have a human touch. Modelling today is very stereotypical... everybody looks the same, everybody models in the same way.

You must be flooded with offers after Rock On!!...

There are a few. And I can totally understand that. When you make a portfolio and the portfolio gets better, the offers start flowing. Some directors need to see your work before they sign you on. And then there are directors who have faith in your capabilities and they can bring the best out of you just like that. I have already worked with the second kind of directors. Farhan Akhtar (Don), Rituparno Ghosh (The Last Lear), Farah Khan (Om Shanti Om), Abhishek Kapoor (Rock On!!)... they have really brought the best out of me.

Now every movie star is on television. What was your reason for taking up the job of judging Nach Baliye 4?

I think television’s a great medium. You can reach out to a wide audience across the country. I do want to be more approachable. Also, I want to see the medium of TV closely since I am contemplating producing television software through my production house Chasing Ganesha. Of course, Nach Baliye is a great fun show and it doesn’t take too much of my time.

So a lot of thought has gone into this move?

Not really. I am not a person who makes calculations before doing something. And I have seen that whenever I have done things to prove something to someone, I have always failed. And when I have done things to prove to myself that I can do it, I have been successful. That’s how it should be done. From the heart. Every process should be enjoyed.

A film like EMI sounds very relevant given the economic downturn worldwide...

All I can tell you it wasn’t planned (laughs)! But this has been happening for a long time now... people taking loans and then having to pay EMIs throughout their lives. The script has been written around that. It’s a comedy and whatever messages are given out, it’s done in a fun way.

And you are being billed as the star attraction of the film...

Nothing like that. The main guy who is after the pending EMIs is played by Sanjay Dutt. I play a DJ in the film, a glamorous profession which is pretty common these days. EMI is my first film with Sanju Baba and that makes me very excited.

What else is on the anvil?

There’s a film called The Fox, which is with Sunny Deol. There’s Prakash Jha’s Rajneeti which has Ajay Devgan and Nana Patekar.