Thaindian News

By Subhash K. Jha
Mumbai, Sep 17 (IANS) Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal’s daughters love watching him perform on “Jailhouse Rock” on their dinning table and he happily obliges them.

But his wife Mehr is worried the dining table might give way.

“Not to worry. It’s a sturdy table. It’s not going anywhere,” said the actor, who is appreciated for his performance in “We Are Family” where he danced with his co-stars Kajol and Kareena in the Bollwood version of “Jailhouse Rock”.

“My parents were huge Elvis Presley fans. I grew up on Presley. So when I got a chance to dance to ‘Jailhouse Rock’ in my latest film, I jumped at it,” he added.

Arjun also plans to go on stage for a rock concert, hopefully with his “Rock On” team, if not then alone.

“I do have a craving to go live. And after ‘Rock On!!’, I can play the guitar. My fan following as a rock star has already started. My two daughters love me performing on the dining table,” he said.

Apparently the model-turned-actor has been urging the “Rock On” gang to do an encore, but the script has to be cracked. “We’re waiting for the right idea.”

Arjun was very impressed with Siddharth Malhotra’s clarity of thought regarding the remake of “Stepmom”.

“In the original, I thought the husband’s character played by Ed Harris was very restricted and irresponsible. I remember, I had seen ‘Stepmom’ with my mom when it had released in 1998. I remember I didn’t want to see it. I wanted to go for a football match.”

He says that for his role in “We Are Family”, he used his real life eperiences.

“I picked up a lot of my emotions in ‘We Are Family’ from the way I behave with my daughters. I throw my daughters around, just like my screen daughters in ‘We Are Family’.”

There is no grievance about Kajol and Kareena being called the two heroes of “We Are Family”.

“The only hero at the end of the day is the film. The actors are participants. It is a good actor’s responsibility to put aside his insecurities and work as team with the cast. Every actor should be good for a film to work.”

Arjun, who is also doing Shah Rukh Khan’s home production “Ra.One”, dismisses talk of a rift with the superstar.

“I don’t know when we were fighting that we needed to patch up. I don’t want to discuss my friendships. It’s sad what people try to do to good relationships in this industry. I really don’t care a damn what people say. I know where we stand.

“When we’re working together, we are going there as professional actors, not as opponents in a boxing ring. What I really admire about Shah Rukh is he always looks at the larger picture. He contributes actively not only to his movies, but also to the entertainment industry. The responsibility is tremendous,” he said.

Arjun also refutes reports of Karan Johar directing a part of “Ra.One”. “That is not true at all. ‘Ra.One’ is Shah Rukh’s most ambitious project. He just wanted Karan to come to London and roll the camera for one shot. The film’s director is Anubhav Sinha. And I think it’s very wrong of people to say he is not.”