'Nowadays, purity is lacking in our work. It's all about creating one franchise after another': Arjun Rampal

No one in today’s film world can slip into a complex, grey character with as much ease and style as Arjun Rampal.

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There’s some level of poetry in the way he carries sadness, as if it's a part of him. There’s some degree of panache in the way he asserts himself on screen. We've seen him live this in films like Rock On, Om Shanti Om, Don, and D-Day. And then there's his work on the small screen, where something like Bandish Bandits Season 2 showed another shade of his talent. Now, Rampal is back with Raina Naidu Season 2 on Netflix, standing tall opposite Rana Daggubati and Daggubati Venkatesh. In an exclusive chat with SCREEN, he shares how he steps into these layered roles again and again, what it's like to live inside Raina Naidu's world, and what audiences can expect from his next film Dhurandhar.

Q: Your portrayal of morally grey or intense characters has really struck a chord with my generation. There's this undeniable charm in how you bring complexity to the “baddies”. Say whether it's in Om Shanti Om, Ra.One, or more recently Raina Naidu. | have this theory that if we ever remade John Wick in India, you'd be perfect to headline it— there's an effortless, simmering intensity you bring that feels tailor-made for roles like that. So | want to start by asking: How do you approach these layered, often dark characters? Is there a particular process you follow to find that spark within them?