‘Siachen was phenomenal’

Arjun Rampal, who is all set to for his forthcoming film Daddy based on the life and times of Maharashtra’s most notorious don Arun Gawli, chats up about his experience at Siachen Glacier

Shoma A. Chatterji

Arjun Rampal was a top model once, and today he’s rated among the good actors. He has, however, consciously kept himself away from the rat-race and does not hit even three films a year. In an interview, he opens up about his forthcoming release Daddy, which is based on the life and times of Maharashtra’s most notorious don Arun Gawli, besides his trip to the Siachen Glacier

Let us hear about your experience at the Siachen Glacier

Salute Siachen was a mission dedicated to our soldiers at the Siachen border where I, along with Arunoday Singh and Rannvijay Singha, went and experienced how life was at the glacier. The main objective was to donate the money collected for the war widows. But they graciously declined this stating that the government was taking very good care of them. “If you really want to do something, go see the jawans there and give them some motivation” they said. We went the way the jawans went.

How was the experience?

The experience was completely out-of-this-world. It was exciting, filled with the thrill of an adventure. For me, it was somewhat scary after we were told the dangers we could encounter such as there could be a drop in oxygen level or we could have vertigo, etc. Once we reached the place, we found it so quiet there that one could even hear a nail drop. It was phenomenal. Our respect for our soldiers increased manifold when we saw the tough conditions they live in. They sleep on ice. We salute the dedication and devotion of the soldiers of the country who in spite the tough conditions they live in protect us with a smile on their faces.

On to Daddy, which is perhaps the most challenging role of your career?

Daddy is a biopic on Arun Gawli. It is a film which is very close to my heart because it has an amazing story to tell…We have received an overwhelming response to the first trailer. Gawli has many facets —the notorious gangster-turned politician is considered Robinhood by the residents of his neighbourhood, who lovingly call him Daddy. The two sides of this man pulled me to the challenge of portraying him.

How did you prepare for the role?

To bring the character to life, it was important to resemble the character as closely as possible. Besides change of appearance, I also interacted with Gawli’s wife and tried to internalise the characteristics and habits of the gangster-turned politician. My director Ashim Ahluwalia, too, gave me lots of inputs and anecdotes about the dreaded gangster.