Arjun Rampal comes up with a National Award performance in Daddy?

By Joginder Tuteja -

December 5, 2016 - 3:40 PM IST

Back in 2008 when Arjun Rampal had acted in Rock On, he hadn't quite aimed to win a National Award for the film. However, as word spread around his performance and it was hailed as one of his most definitive ever since his debut in 2001, there was an enhanced buzz around him in the industry circles. This was recognized at the highest pedestal when those deciding the National Awards no less recognized him for stellar act and awarded him as Best Supporting Actor.

Arjun Rampal comes up with a National Award performance in Daddy?

Now if the buzz around his next release Daddy is anything to go by, the 44 year old actor has possibly come up with a performance of a lifetime in the film where he plays the central protagonist.

"This is the first time ever when he is playing a biographical character," informs a source, "These are the most difficult roles to play as one minor slip and you are just out of the character. Arjun had to approach the part of gangster turned politician Arun Gawli in this Ashim Ahluwalia and Eros film quite carefully. To get the right look and attire is still gettable. Same holds for the dialogue delivery too. However, what is indeed tough is to get the right mannerisms, body language and facial expressions, while also ensuring that for the masses, the entertainment quotient is kept intact too. Arjun took this challenge heads on and has come up trumps."

If his last couple of films are any indications, Arjun has been coming up with one good act after another.

"As an actor, he has grown in last 15 years, and how. He was the best part about Rock On 2, albeit in a short role. Now in Kahaani 2, he has played a pivotal role and come up with such an endearing act. He is not merely a passenger in these films despite someone else leading the show as a central protagonist. He is pretty much owning the scenes where he appears. Now with Daddy, he is occupying the throne. There was no ways he would have settled for an act anything less than extraordinary," says a source attached to Daddy.

Over the years, Arjun has been consistency personified, what with altogether varied characters in films like Roy, Satyagraha, D-Day and Inkaar.

"One thing that you can never accuse Arjun of is getting typecast," an industry insider comments, "He can play a seasoned politician in Raajneeti and then surprise you by being a villain in Ra.One. He didn't mind getting into art house zone either with The Last Lear. This is something that he did years ago and that too in time when not many actors were willing to experiment. Today, experimentation is in. A Shah Rukh Khan is willing to turn therapist in Dear Zindagi, an Aamir Khan puts on weight for Dangal and an Akshay Kumar is happy to play a common man in Jolly LLB 2. Arjun too is happy changing lanes with Daddy."

Now one waits to see whether this lane takes him to another National Award.