His acclaimed acts as Captain Karan Sachdev in The Final Call and Sidharth Jaisingh in Nail Polish behind him, Arjun Rampal has turned his attention to the spate of projects in the pipeline. Putting his prowess as an actor on display, Rampal is set to play distinct characters in films like Abbas-Mastan’s thriller movie, The Penthouse, Ramesh Thete’s period war drama, The Battle Of Bhima Koregaon, Razneesh Ghai’s actioner Dhaakad, and Aparna Sen’s The Rapist.

“I work with a character, and then switch off before moving onto the next. Once you are home, with family and loved ones, that’s when you can recharge your batteries. It’s not easy to play such drastically different characters. You need to spend time with your core team, which includes the director, writers and actors, before going onto the rehearsals and readings,” says the actor.  

The fleeting moments that he shares with his family are cherished. “I spend time with my kids, Aarik, Mahikaa and Myra. [The Coronavirus lockdown] was a golden opportunity to get close to the people I love the most. My profession doesn’t allow me to have that. I knew that once things opened up, my daughters would leave for London for their education. Mahikaa has acting aspirations since she has taken part in theatre. She is in London studying filmmaking at the MetFilm School. Myraa has also left for a boarding school in London.”

After doing pretty well on TV with Ek Veer Ki Ardaas... Veera and Bigg Boss, Digangana Suryavanshi suddenly bid adieu to the small screen. “It is a conscious decision to not do TV shows as I can’t keep up with that commitment right now. Daily soaps require an investment of every single day. I decided this soon after Bigg Boss. I was 18 when I did the reality show, and then I wanted to explore and see how films turn out for me. I feel I have given a good part of my life to television, and that too at a very young age. It wasn’t that I did TV for a year or two and then stopped working on it. Of course, I knew films were not going to work out for me overnight. If I don’t want to do television shows, it doesn’t mean that I want to demean the medium. I still love TV and if something short term comes my way, I would definitely do it. I wouldn’t have been at a place where I am today without doing television. It is not that I have shut doors for TV,” she says.

So, does she still get offers for TV? “I do get offers for shows that are on air right now. I did get offers for shows with seasons, too. However, Indian TV shows with seasons are not really what they should ideally be. They go on for six months, nine months and, if the concept works, the shows just don’t end,” she shares.

Apart from featuring in Bollywood films, Digangana has done many movies down South as well. “I remember when I decided to do films after TV, I was called a fool by people around me. They were like, ‘Yeh kya pagal ladki hai’. People called me stupid to be quitting TV despite being in the cream layer of TV. After Bigg Boss, I had really amazing offers with a whopping amount. But I was sane enough to take such a big decision in my life because I had huge family support. Currently, I am working on The Battle Of Bhima Koregaon, where I am paired opposite Arjun Rampal.”