With ‘masala’ films and remakes back in a strong way, the villains too are back to make Hindi films spicier and more thrilling. Names like GHAJINI, WANTED, SINGHAM and MURDER 2 saw the return to screen of powerful villains who during yesteryears made life hell for the hero and the climax a nail biting affair.

If we look at recent trends Prakash Raj, with back-to-back award winning scene stealing acts in WANTED, BBUDDAH… HOGA TERRA BAAP and SINGHAM, deserves a mention as he can rightly be called an all time entertaining villain, almost in the league of greats like Amjad Khan, Pran and Amrish Puri, though he still has a long way to go and prove himself in films other than South remakes.

In fact the Bhatts who have always provided Bollywood with able and apt villains like Paresh Rawal, Gulshan Grover etc. went a step further with Prashant Narayan in MURDER 2. And this is not it as we have many more memorable performances coming up. More

Different from Salman’s Chulbul Pandey, Arjun Rampal will play a sophisticated cop in Tigmanshu Dhulia’s next

Playing a cop seems to be the current flavour of the season and after Salman Khan, Abhishek Bachchan and Ajay Devgn, the latest to join the bandwagon is Arjun Rampal. The actor is playing a cop in Tigmanshu Dhulia’s next.

Says a source, “Arjun was apprehensive about playing a North Indian cop because there were bound to be comparisons with Salman Khan’s ‘Dabangg’.” Not wanting to take chances, Arjun requested the director to make his character more sophisticated and classy, unlike Salman’s character, Chulbul Pandey. More

Everything is fair in love and award functions. Arjun Rampal won the best supporting actor award for his role in Rajneeti at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards ceremony. That has not gone down too well with Maria Goretti, wife of actor Arshad Warsi who was also nominated in the same category.

“Arjun won over Arshad … For best supporting actor, unbelievably stupid I say, if Manoj Bajpai won would not feel so bad… filmy politics,” Maria posted on Twitter after the award was announced Saturday in Toronto. More

He’s had his share of ups and downs, but now national award winning actor Arjun Rampal has found a firm foothold in Bollywood. His aim is to be a contributor by bringing good cinema to viewers and says he doesn’t want to be a liability.

“I hope I have grown as an actor. I am more comfortable in what I do. I think I understand it better now. I have had opportunities, I had been blessed with opportunities to work with the best in the business and I have learnt a lot from them. I feel there is a nice future and with the experience, I can hope I make good cinema,” Arjun said in an interview.

Arjun’s cinematic journey is not unusual. Like other models, after scorching the ramp, he too decided to dazzle on the big screen. But when he debuted in 2001 with Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat, he had to face disappointment. At that time, no one knew that in future he would deliver such dazzling performances that he would be conferred a national award.

After failures like Moksha, Aankhen, Ek Ajnabee, he got his share of accolades when Farah Khan presented him as a villain opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Om Shanti Om. The film was a super-hit and so was Arjun’s performance as a cold-blooded producer and a mean lover. More

It was a one of its kind event as 75 couples assembled in Delhi for a shaving lesson from Bollywood actors Neha Dhupia to Arjun Rampal to aim at a world record.

Gillette India organised what was claimed to be the world’s largest shaving lesson at Ansal Plaza on Friday. The organisers claimed they were aiming to enter the Guinness World Records and the Limca Book of Records, but no representatives from these were present.

However, Rinki Tomar from the India Book of Records said she would forward the details for inclusion in the Asia Book of Records.

“If women can spend hours in an effort to look good, then why can’t men spend a mere five minutes of their time to look civilised and groomed, that is clean shaven? I think women should co-operate with men and show them that we care about how we like to see them,” said Neha while demonstrating how to shave. Dressed in navy blue off-shoulder knee-length dress she gave a demo on Arjun. More

Arjun Rampal, who is a close friend of industry heavyweights Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar has joined hands with their foe Pritish Nandy. The model turned actor has signed his next flick, to be directed by Nandy’s elder son Kushan and produced under the Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC) banner.

And this decision of Arjun has not gone well with King Khan and KJo. The two have been at loggerheads with Nandy since the past six years and Arjun’s professional move has disappointed the actor-filmmaker camp.

It is believed that Arjun has been signed on for the movie at a staggering price, which is why the actor decided to team up with his thick friends’ foe. But a source close to the actor, while talking to a daily revealed, “Arjun is not even aware of any problems between Karan, SRK and PNC. Arjun is sure that no one will hold grudges against him, especially because the so-called issue is over six years old. Arjun and SRK are still the best of friends, contrary to rumours about their fallout. Arjun loved the script of this film and is working in it. There are no two ways about it.”

Producer Rongita Nandy confirmed the news and said, “Yes, we are doing a film with Arjun and it starts this month. However, we are not giving out any details at the moment and we will make an official announcement soon.” More

It seems that Kajol and Kareena Kapoor’s avatar as mothers in ‘We Are Family’ has managed to rock the audiences as it grossed about Rs.27 million (Rs.2.7 crore) on its opening day.

Produced by Karan Johar, the movie had a limited festival release on Janmashtami (Thursday) with paid previews – a day before than the usual release.

Distributed by UTV Motion Pictures, ‘We Are Family’ is a Hindi adaptation of Julia Roberts-Susan Sarandon starrer ‘Stepmom’.

It also stars Arjun Rampal and child actors Aanchal Munjal, Nominath Ginsburg and Diya Sonecha. Source

Even after over a decade of marriage, two children and hectic work schedules – Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal seems to be madly in love with his wife Mehr Jessia as he made naughty eye contact with her during the Blenders Pride Fashion Tour ramp here.

The duo took to the fashion runway Saturday evening dressed in outfits by designer Nandita Mahtani on the second day of the Delhi leg of the fashion tour. While Mehr flaunted an emerald green gown with a revealing back, Arjun looked hot as usual in a black tuxedo and a gold-sequined waistband, with his new, cropped hairdo adding a lot more oomph.

Arjun’s silent interaction with Mehr through his eyes was there for all to see, but no, they didn’t dare to do anything as whacky and daring as Akshay Kumar’s gesture of asking his wife Twinkle to unzip his jeans during a Mumbai fashion event. Their confidence, panache and attitude were proof enough of their once-upon-a-time supermodel status. More

The macho man Arjun Rampal seems to be on quite a high ever since his last flick ‘Raajneeti’ turned out to be a super-hit. The actor, who was apparently dependent on his friend’s recommendations for work earlier, is now throwing fits on directors. And it’s none other than his one time good pal Farhan Akhtar who is bearing the brunt of Arjun’s sudden success. Believe it or not, but Arjun has walked out of ‘Don 2’ after developing creative differences with Farhan.

As per reports, Arjun walked out of the film after Farhan refused to make changes in his role for the sequel.

Nevertheless, the two actors remain to be friends. Talking about the relationship between the two, an insider told a news daily, “Arjun and Farhan are extremely close to each other. Arjun’s character in ‘Don’ was an integral one and was appreciated by everyone.

After ‘Don’, Arjun worked in ‘Rock On’ with Farhan’s company and his role received a lot of critical praise. Arjun was quite excited about working in the sequel to ‘Don’. But on account of some problems cropping up at the script level, Arjun and Farhan have parted ways.” More

With the grand success of Prakash Jha’s RAAJNEETI, Arjun Rampal now has third huge success in the making. His OM SHANTI OM with Shah Rukh Khan was a blockbuster, HOUSEFULL was the first clean hit of the year and RAAJNEETI has now gained a blockbuster status for itself.
 
“In a way, I should not be overtly surprised though because a few days before the release of the film itself, I could sense that excitement amongst the people”, says Arjun with all the right earnest, “Yes, because you are a part of a film, you do loose objectivity since you have lived and breathed that film for months. However, when people not associated with your film come and tell you that they can sense something extra special in it, you are bound to take their word.”

His words do make sense. RAAJNEETI had started creating good buzz around it days before the release and failure of KITES meant that there was widespread hunger amongst audience to catch hold of a quality product. Still, a reception belonging to the kind that RAAJNEETI has enjoyed worldwide is something that no one involved in the film itself would have expected. More

In a year which has been laden with some high profile box office flops, case in point being KITES (Hrithik Roshan), VEER (Salman Khan) and RANN (Amitabh Bachchan), RAAJNEETI is one film which is turning out to be one of the biggest films of the season.

“Well, people had been telling me this for last few weeks and the feelers have been amazing. As an actor you do feel elated when something like this happens because you have lived through the film and hence have a hands-on idea of how it has shaped up actually. This is why I was not scared of any expectations because I knew that they would be met”, says Ajay in a confident tone.

One can trust him to say that. Earlier this year, his ATITHI TUM KAB KAOGE turned out to be a surprise success at the box office and though not many in the trade believed that it would do well in theaters, Ajay was always confident about its extended run on big screen as well as the medium of home video. Today in case of RAAJNEETI, whether it’s the plot, cast, music, buzz, hype, timing, promotion – just about everything seems to have fitted in quite well. More

RAAJNEETI has recorded by far the best opening of the year by collecting nearly 10.50 crore net on its first day. The collections are just huge in Mumbai, Delhi/UP, East Punjab, CP Berar, CI and Rajasthan with South being good but lower comparatively.

This is the second highest opening ever after 3 IDIOTS (12.98 crores where we need to remember 25th December was the opening day). RAAJNEETI is closely followed by KITES (10.04 cr) and HOUSEFULL (9 crores).The collections are the second highest first day total however with 30% lesser shows at multiplexes than films like KITES and HOUSEFULL which were the second and third biggest first day openers respectively before RAAJNEETI.

The film has simply surpassed all expectations and may be on its way to being the first big smash hit of 2010 in India. Prakash Jha rocks. Source