It’s been 20 years in the acting business for Arjun Rampal. The 48-year-old actor, who kicked off the new year with a film release in the form of the psychological thriller Nail Polish, spoke to us about what keeps him invested in his job, the lessons of the year gone by and how he’s enjoying his stint on the web.

Year 2020 has been life-altering for the globe, and you put down your learnings and lessons from the year succinctly in a post on social media, which captured everything from family to friends, fans to the industry. What prompted you to jot down your thoughts?

Well, it wasn’t just 2020 that I was talking about. It was also 20 years of me being in the industry, but I think that kind of got a bit lost in translation (laughs). The year gave me so much time to think and reflect about so many things. There have been such contrasting emotions in 2020. I have had love and joy and time to spend with my kid (Arik), with my daughters (Mahikaa and Myra), with Gabriella (Demetriades, partner), with my sister and her family, catching up with old friends I wasn’t in touch with... and you kind of realise the value of relationships. And then, of course, we saw so much distress all around, in terms of the migrant workers situation, and with Sonu (Sood) coming out and doing such a great job.

There’s a whole pile of other stuff that’s also happened, and it’s just been a rollercoaster of emotions in 2020. I call it the year of cleansing. All these incidents have the ability to teach and I felt that if I can tell people what my experiences have been through this year in the simplest way possible that I can... if I could pen down those thoughts.... In fact, I was actually doing it for myself. And when I did it, I thought I would like to share it with the world because it really came from my heart.

Clocking 20 years in the business is no mean feat. What keeps you going and where do you see yourself going?

One of the things that really excites me about my job is the uncertainty of it, and the ambiguity of it. Because it’s your imagination that helps you go out there and create. I like that because it’s exciting and it keeps me on my toes. To find work like that is where my headspace at the moment is.

I don’t know where I will be a few years from now. How can we plan so far ahead when we saw what has just happened to the whole world because of the pandemic? It’s now more about living in the moment. What the pandemic has taught me is that every day we need to put our best selves forward. And putting our best selves forward not selfishly, but selflessly. These last few months have made us realise that we actually don’t need so much. It’s also time to give back and going forward, that will be my approach to life.

You have kicked off 2021 on a good note with your film Nail Polish, that released on January 1. What have the reactions been like so far?

I didn’t expect the reactions to come in so soon. I thought it would be a film that would grow slowly through word of mouth. It’s a kind of slow-burn drama, so I thought it would take its time. But the reactions have been overwhelming. I am getting about 60-70 messages a day, from random people and from people I know. They mostly like the ending. The most interesting reaction I got was actually from my daughter Myra who had a different interpretation of the ending, which I can’t really reveal because I don’t want to ruin the film for people who haven’t seen it.

How we reacted to the script when we first read it is how people are reacting to the film (streaming on Zee5), which means that we stayed as close to the script as we could. A funny reaction was someone telling me, ‘I saw your movie Lipstick’. So I was like, ‘Ya, that’s great, but it’s Nail Polish!’ (Laughs) For my performance, the biggest compliments I have got are from friends who are lawyers. They said they liked the fact that it isn’t melodramatic and that I mostly underplayed it. They have told me, ‘Please don’t become a lawyer. We will be all out of jobs’ (laughs).

Arjun with his children Myra, Arik and Mahikaa. Sourced by The Telegraph

Was getting the walk and talk of a lawyer right the biggest challenge on this film?

I feel that courtroom dramas can become extremely melodramatic, and that sometimes takes away from the seriousness of what’s been argued. But if you can put your point across in a conversational manner instead of beating your opponent down, then people can see the story. When he (Arjun’s character Sid Jaisingh) puts the facts across quietly without screaming them out, then the audience is able to visualise the story. I just played the role based on my instincts... I am not someone who can dissect a performance of mine (laughs).

You said it’s been raining reactions ever since the film dropped. Is that the biggest high of releasing content on a streaming platform because the reactions are quick and there is instant gratification?

It’s definitely a high. But sometimes you do have content coming out on an OTT platform, but nobody really responds to it which makes you realise that it hasn’t really penetrated anywhere. Even when a film releases in theatres, you do immediately start getting reactions the minute people start liking it. That’s the first barometer for you to understand that this film has got legs, it will move now.

Nail Polish is not a run-of-the-mill film. So for audiences to accept and enjoy a film like that is extremely satisfying. We all have taken a risk by telling this story. There’s a lot at stake for everybody. When a film works in totality, you really feel satisfied.

Before this, you starred in a 2019 web series called The Final Call. How’s it been working on the web so far?

Twenty years ago when OTT started in the West, it was called the golden era of writing. The pandemic has been a kind of a boon for the OTT platforms in India... people have now got used to watching content at home. A project on an OTT platform gets greenlit because you are sure of the content, and it’s not based on box-office expectations. The minute you make something keeping the box office in mind, the content does get compromised in some ways. Everything gets a bit diluted.

But look at the content we are getting on OTT now. I watched this really nice film called Serious Men directed by Sudhir Mishra. Shows like Scam (1992) are so good, the audience is maturing and liking this new form of storytelling. This will translate into showing everyone that content is truly king, and going forward, both theatrical releases and OTT content will have to keep that in mind. Audiences are changing and I am happy and excited with what’s happening.