He made a promising debut in 2001 with 'Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat' and went on to star in a number of films for a decade, but Arjun Rampal says he has now decided to go slow. In the beginning of his career, the model-turned-actor featured in an array of romantic movies such as 'Deewanapan', 'Dil Hai Tumhaara', 'Dil Ka Rishta' and 'Vaada'.
The films could not do wonders at the box office and Arjun says it was "frustrating" for him to do projects which did not contribute to his growth as an actor. "When I are started I was told, 'You need to keep working'. I had managers telling me to do 'certain kind of stuff'. But then I realised I was not growing. It was frustrating for me to get caught in that kind of vicious circle. I was in front of the camera, but I was not growing," Arjun said.
The actor took a break from love stories and shifted to character roles with movies such as 'Don', 'Om Shanti Om', 'Raajneeti', 'Ra.One' and 'Rock On'. "I was not happy, so I decided to stop. I looked back and found out that I want to act more and do justice to my work. I decided to go slow because I wanted to do films which were different... Roles which were tough," he adds.
Arjun will next be seen playing gangster-turned- politician Arun Gawli in biopic 'Daddy'. The 44-year-old actor says the movie is the "biggest risk" he has taken in his career. "I decided to take the plunge because of my passion. Once I make up my mind, I just go ahead with it. When I embarked on this story ('Daddy'), it was suppose to happen with somebody else. Those people let us down, but I didn't want to abandon Arun Gawli's story."
Arjun, who turned producer in 2006 with 'I See You', says 'Daddy' is his "first proper film as a producer" as it gave him a better understanding of filmmaking. "'I See You' was very small and doable. 'Daddy' was far more challenging. It was a period film. We have to get the rights and permissions. There were a lot of legalities. It was stressful. It was a production heavy film and it taught me a lot in terms of filmmaking."
Directed by Ashim Ahuluwalia and also featuring Tamil actor Aishwarya Rajesh, 'Daddy' will hit the screens tomorrow.