Arjun Rampal leaves for Bangkok to do cameo in Sanjay Dutt?s Rascals

By Subhash K. Jha, February 10, 2011 
On Monday night, Arjun Rampal left for Bangkok to do a longish 20-day cameo for David Dhawan's Rascals. Arjun, who has lately become extra-picky about his projects, was in two minds about doing a cameo at this juncture of his career when he's trying very hard to consolidate his position as an actor with a distinctive identity.
Says a source, "Although Arjun was tempted to work with David Dhawan for the first time, the last thing he wanted do was to get into the cameo space again. Repeatedly, filmmakers have put Arjun in the cameo space with the promise of bigger roles later. Karan Johar and Farhan Akhtar had given Arjun walk-on parts in Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna and Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd. These led to sizeable parts in We Are Family and Rock On. But now Arjun is done with cameos." Apparently, Arjun duly informed David Dhawan of his inability to do a cameo in a film that already features Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgn. 
This is where Dutt who turns producer with Rascals stepped in. Not too many people would be able to say no to Sanjay Dutt, especially when he is on the verge of entering a new phase in his life as a producer. Apparently, Dutt met Arjun and told him that he must do the part since it was written specially for him. 
Just before flying out to Bangkok on Monday night, Arjun said, "Yes I finally agreed to do Rascals. I always wanted to work with David Dhawan. And it is Sanjay Dutt's first production. So all the more special. I've about twenty days work. However, cameos as a rule are not what I'm looking for in my career right now." 
Arjun is looking forward to seeing how audiences react to his part of the main antagonist in Ra.One. "I've played the bad guy successfully in Om Shanti Om. Even Raajneeti had shades of grey. So there's no apprehension about acceptability as a villain. At the end of the day, a good role is a good role, black or white or grey. I'm happy with the way my career has shaped up."