His turn as the antagonist in big-ticket films like Om Shanti Om and Ra.One has earned him huge praise. Now, Arjun Rampal plays a baddie — not stereotypical in any way, he insists — in Season 2 of Rana Naidu. The second outing of the action-packed Netflix series, dropping today, brings back the original cast comprising Rana Daggubati in the title role, along with Venkatesh Daggubati, with Arjun making an entry. A t2 chat with the actor.

What got you interested in Rana Naidu Season 2?

I really enjoyed Season 1. I was taken aback when I saw it because it went beyond my expectations as a show. I was even a little bit jealous that I wasn’t in the show. I think Rana (Daggubati) did a fantastic job, so did Venky (Venkatesh Daggubati), as did the whole cast and crew.

What I really liked about it was the idea of a flawed protagonist, not your goody-two shoes which we are so used to lapping up all the time. The twist at the end was very well done and came as a complete surprise. It was risky, but I love people who take chances.

When Season 2 was happening, Sunder (Aaron), the producer of the show, approached me. I said: ‘Listen man, I really liked your show but I don’t want to play the stereotypical bad guy.’ And he said: ‘But everyone is bad in this show!’ I realised that is true (laughs). I said I am okay with that as long as it is not stereotypical.

After that, Karan Anshuman (co-director) came down to my place in Goa. We ended up spending two-three days together. We didn’t really discuss the script because he was still working on it. But he wanted to just hang out with me to understand my mindset and to observe me to figure out where he could take that character. He wrote it and we went back and forth quite a bit because I wanted something substantial that I could really sink my teeth into. Thankfully, that happened and the process of playing this character turned out to be very exciting.

The storytelling was very unique for me and getting to work with three directors (Karan Anshuman, Suparn S. Varma and Abhay Chopra) in the same season was interesting... each brought in their own style and flavour of filmmaking. Their different perspectives on set enriched the show as well as my portrayal.

So this was clearly not a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth...

That was actually my fear. I wasn’t sure if all of us would be on the same page. And all of them are very different people who brought in different energies. Their reactions to what I was doing in front of the camera was also different. But it all flowed seamlessly because of how good the writing was.

In what way is Rauf not a stereotypical baddie? You have played antagonists before, and pretty successfully at that...

I have always tried to make them absolutely different. I am one person but I get to play so many people. That is the beauty of it. How much one can transform oneself into becoming that person is critical.

I gained 12kg to play this part. I am not a small guy, but Rana is such a huge guy that standing next to him made me feel small (laughs). He has an overpowering presence. To justify this clash, I had to put on weight and look bigger. It was akin to two heavyweights sparring with each other in a ring. That apart, the idea was to also have some humour in this character. It was important for me to figure what this guy’s attitude is and what is the belief system he stems from.

Some actors say it is fun to gain weight for a part because that means you can eat whatever you want, while others describe it as an agonising process. Which side of the divide are you on?

It was lots of fun! I ate a lot of the delicious food that I otherwise don’t. But the idea was not to get fat, it was about gaining muscle. I am so used to being a particular weight for most of my life that 12kg felt extremely heavy on me. It restricted my movement. Thankfully, I am back to my normal weight now.

It has been almost 25 years in acting. How are you picking and choosing your parts now? Is there a lot more deliberation than there was even a few years ago?

If I go back and forth on a part with a writer or a director, like it was in the case of Rana Naidu 2, it is because I have already liked the part and I just want it to be fleshed out better. It is about putting my viewpoint out there. The most beautiful part of filmmaking is being open-minded and collaborative. You have to be open-minded with your writer, your director, your co-actors... I have always been very collaborative and open to suggestion and advice. Sometimes there could be gold thrown at you, at other times, it could also be a lot of rubbish... as a creative person, it is your job to sift through the rubbish and try and find the gold in there.
I know that some people may say: ‘He is too interfering. It is not his space.’ That is not correct. In a collaborative effort like filmmaking, the space belongs to all of us. I have no interest in asking the director if he liked a shot or not... I know that he will tell me anyway. What I like is to watch the rest of the crew and see how they have reacted to that particular shot. If they react positively, then I know I am on the right track. But if someone comes and tells me: ‘Sir, that shot didn’t come out that great’, or if they say: ‘We feel you should have moved a little bit more here’, that is a technicality, and I will definitely try it to see if it works better. We all have to keep working till it is done.

In our earlier conversations, you have always maintained that one of the reasons you love doing your job is because of the uncertainty and the ambiguity of it. At a time when the Hindi film industry is going through a state of uncertainty, with only a few films working here and there, do you still feel the same way?

Yes. Forget our industry per se, the world itself is extremely unpredictable right now. One thing I do believe as an artiste is that we do need to focus more on the art and not just churn out stuff all the time. When that becomes the focus, then automatically everything will change. The consumer out there is looking for good content and he will lap it up if you give it to him. But you should also be ready for his wrath if he invests his time in you and you don’t live up to his expectations. One has to be careful.

But like I said, investing in art, investing in good work is most important. There is a second season of Rana Naidu because it naturally lends itself to it. But these days, too many franchises are coming out without having any so-called franchise-able material. Everybody wants to cash in on the franchise fever these days. What are franchises? KFC, McDonalds and the like. One can either choose to have more of that or opt for a chain of wonderful restaurants under the same brand name that stand for quality. The same goes for our film and series franchises. You need to lean more towards the goodness in art without letting your soul get corrupted, so to speak.