“Thanks to Asambhav. I am a fitter man.”- Arjun Rampal speaks about Asambhav 
By IndiaFM News Bureau, June 4, 2004 - 05:26 IST
He has good looks, deep voice and a reasonable ease in front of the camera.
With Asambhav, he hopes that his pairing with Rajiv Rai finds favour with Indian audiences.
Excerpts from an exclusive interview with IndiaFM.
Tell us something about Asambhav.
I am playing the role of a commando in the movie who has been approached to fulfill a mission named 'Asambhav'. It is only after watching the film that you know whether he achieves success in fulfilling the mission Asambhav or not. The film shall depict clearly whether anything in life is really impossible.
Tell us something about the mission 'Asambhav'. Is the mission targeted against someone? Please comment.
Being an extremely secret mission, Asambhav cannot be disclosed by me right now. But I'll tell you the one line story of the script that portrays clearly that terror can attack anytime, anywhere and anyone.
Tell us something about the commando you are playing in this movie?
In reality, India has a group of 500 hundred Indian soldiers who are trained as spies to take on any kind of work and take up any role outside the country to fulfill the secret mission of the country. In the movie I am playing the character of one of these 500 Indian soldiers.
We have heard that you are very selective about your films. What was the criterion for selecting this movie? Is it the deep friendship bond between Rajiv and you that made your reply affirmative or was it the script of the movie that fascinated you to accept the offer. Please comment.
That's a good question. There's no doubt at all regarding the strong friendship bond that we both share between us. I strongly appreciate commercial films and Rajiv being a commercial director definitely becomes my first preference. Moreover I love Rajiv' s style of working because Rajiv is a kind of director who really loves his actors .I share a very good chemistry with him and that makes our relationship really very very good. It is indeed difficult to find such a director with whom you can gel so well. When Rajiv informed me about his film Asambhav that is the story of a commando on his secret mission, I readily accepted the offer to do this movie anytime, anywhere and anyhow.
Did the role of commando require any special preparations from your side as far as the body language is concerned?
Definitely yes. Physically I had to train a lot for this movie. The first step required chopping of hairs. Being an action-oriented movie, my character is physically more demanding. I love action movies and easily get fascinated by action. At the same time, I am more of a junky type who likes the rush gathered during a shot or a stunt. I had already decided that Asambhav being my first action film should have all the stunts performed by me and not by my double. I did not use a double for a single stunt. Thanks to Rajiv and his idea of physical training that made me really strong to successfully accomplish my target. I did not want a big body that is easy to acquire through regular pumps in the gym. In that case, Aadil who is my karate trainer trained me thoroughly for six months. I wanted him to be lean, to be ripped and at the same time very very fast. As a result of this rigorous training, I have lost my pounds, my cheeks have gone in and yes I am fit today. Thanks to Asambhav. I am a fitter man.
Tell us something about your overall experience of working with other co-stars especially Priyanka.
I had a wonderful experience working not only with my co-stars but also the entire unit of Asambhav. Of course I enjoyed a lot with my co artist as well. The entire unit of Asambhav lived together in Locarno-Switzerland for two and a half months. Living with newcomers for such a long period is not easy but believe me, we got along like a family enjoying every moment. We learnt a lot from each other and had real fun in Switzerland. I spent a lot of quality time with Naseerji and his teaching shall always be memorable to me. We worked so hard for Asambhav that we did not even realize when these two and a half months elapsed. It was really a wonderful experience working in the movie.
Rajivji has informed us that the pace of shooting Asambhav was really fast. Please comment.
Yes. The pace of shooting was really fast. We had seven to eight cameras around us all the time. We had no idea as to which camera we were performing to. But Rajiv was quite clear about the edit pattern and that's the reason that the movie is so fast. He explained his idea of editing to me but that was totally beyond my imagination. He has done a lot of split screens and a lot of different editing, which must be quite clear through the promos of the movie. Actually he has adopted a very modern format for a desi film. Rajiv has made a statement that he has technically made a very very different looking film with digital negatives. I think this has happened for the first time on Indian screen. I only understood the entire concept after I saw the movie through dubbing. I genuinely appreciate the terrific job done by Rajiv for the superb look of Asambhav.
Tell us something about your criteria of selecting the films.
I select my films firstly by the script. The story definitely has to be interesting and the movie should be purely commercial and entertaining. Before selecting any movie, I always keep in mind the kind of films I liked to watch when I was a kid and also the sort of movie I would intend making in future. Yes in the selection of my movie my overall consideration includes the script, my character and most importantly the team I am going to work with. Film-making is a tough job that necessitates sharing up good chemistry with your co-stars without which spending five to six months together really becomes non-endurable. That's how I choose my films.
There are a lot of camps in the industry with Karan Johar only opting for Sharukh in his movie. What is your opinion about the other actors being denied the opportunity to work with specific banners as a result of these camps? Please comment.
No. I think it's unfair to comment that there are a lot of camps in the industry. It is like if Rajiv repeats me in his third movie even I would be referred to having a camp with Rajiv. If the team of the director and actor is working very well there's no question to experiment working with someone else. The basic fact is the director has to be inspired by an actor and vice-versa. Yes it would also be great to work with different people all the time but sometimes working with the people you have worked before gives you tremendous comfort level. I can tell you this through my own experience. For the first time I am working with the same person for his second film and believe me the trust level and the confidence that we both have for each other is so strong that we didn't even have to work on it. The comfort level between an actor or a director or filmmaker is very important. If the comfort level is amazing there's no need to concentrate on work either.
Tell us something about the music of the film.
The music of this movie is the best. Believe me it would prove to be the best music of the year. Viju has done an absolutely incredible job as far the music of the movie is concerned. The music, which Rajiv and Viju have come together with, is simply outstanding.
How many songs are picturised on you?
There's just one song, which has been picturised on me. Since I am playing a commando in the movie, dancing and singing has been strictly prohibited. Thanks to Rajiv who has weaved this situational song so nicely as per the script that the effect is really amazing. Priyanka is doing most of the songs. There's another song which is the title track called Asambhav which is a special song that has been picturised on me. But the title track is not actually like a song because it runs in the background. The theme song of Asambhav is really terrific and will be there in the promos very soon. The music of this movie is really outstanding and Priyanka has done an extremely superb job with her amazing dancing skills.
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