Arjun Rampal on playing the antagonist Rauf in Rana Naidu Season 2
Arjun Rampal is currently seen as the wild and rough Rauf in the Netflix series Rana Naidu Season 2, a badass antagonist, opposite Rana Daggubati. While speaking with Indulge, we ask if he feels underutilised as an actor, and he says, “Sometimes I do feel that I am underutilised, or typecast, but that is the limitation of filmmakers, not mine. But an antagonist, like Rauf or say, the character I play in Dhurandhar, are characters that are going to resonate and evoke an ebb and flow of emotions. These, which are very challenging are the roles I like to do. But then, there are also filmmakers like Honey Trehan who have given me a terrific role in Punjab 95. In Abbas Mastan’s upcoming films and Imtiaz Ali’s O Sathi Re too, I have interesting roles.” We speak at length about Rana Naidu 2 and more. Excerpts:
Arjun Rampal on playing antagonist to Rana Daggubati's Rana Naidu
Rana Naidu Season 1 was a huge success. Was that an extra pressure to play Rauf in Season 2?
When you’re doing season 2, it comes with a tremendous amount of pressure, especially when season 1 has done so well and has created an audience for itself. It had definitely become a talking point. I think there were many reasons that the creators decided to make season 2, to take it to a level where it would definitely be bigger.
I think the complexities of characters and the dysfunctionalities of families are even more exciting, but at the same time, it was toned down in certain parts, which would help the audience to reach out to a wider audience. When it came to Rauf ’s character, I had just one thing to say to Karan Anshuman, the creator behind the show, which I really like the complexities which he has created with all these characters and the arcs each one of them have. And as long as Rauf has the same arc, he is a character we can work on, humanise, and make unpredictable, one who comes with a certain level of levity, and is physically intimidating at times.
Karan was very open and loved to explore it on that level. Luckily, they’d come to me at a point where the character was not really fleshed out. We did go back and forth a lot before we locked the character. I said, let’s not hold back on him. We can always hold back while we’re filming, or at the edit table if it goes too overboard. I wanted Rauf to be wild.
How was the experience sharing screen space with Rana Daggubati?
He’s a sweetheart and a fantastic actor. He has done such a wonderful job on the show. It’s a difficult, complex character to play, and he just holds it so stoic, so restrained and with such intensity. It’s not just wonderful to watch him, but so good to act with him too. He doesn’t come with tantrums or preconceived notions about things, and is openminded on the set. The way we spoke, the conversations were always a conversation. I believe that the dialogue should not sound like a dialogue.
Do you often take back home the after-effects or the feelings of playing such a complex character?
It does get draining sometimes, it’s difficult to switch off, especially when you’re into it and you’re really enjoy playing it, which is why I live in Goa now. That way, it is easier for me to switch off.
In interviews, you have spoken about putting on 14 kg weight to match up with Rana’s physicality. But how did you lose that weight?
I did it in a healthy manner, but it was not easy. It’s a process. Gaining weight was easy. I could eat all my food and then to reduce it, you have to just do the opposite. You go on a calorie-deficit diet, and you increase your cardio but you have to do it gradually. Slowly, you get into a rhythm. If you can keep your metabolic rate in a state of shock all the time, it will stay unified . I had only two months to lose it, and that was not easy. It can be very harmful to your body because you could lose a lot of muscle with it. So, to keep the muscles intact, I do strength training, swimming, cycling, and walking, and then add some HIT programmes, and intermittent fasting to my regimen.
What made you shift to Goa?
Staying for a long time in Goa happened when we went there during Covid. I have two young sons, and the environment in Goa reminded me a lot of my hometown that had fields, trees which you could climb, and all such things. You can see so many birds, fruit trees, I mean, this is beautiful. To embrace nature, and to be part of it, to wake up in it is a blessing if you can manage to do it. Gabrielle (Demetriades) and I felt that this would be the best place to bring our boys up.
For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels.
