It is funny how certain names float back into the atmosphere just when you have stopped thinking about them. Arjun Rampal did that today. One minute I was sipping mediocre coffee, the next I was reading a fresh piece about his top grossing films and suddenly the room felt tinted in old Bollywood light. Not the glittery kind, more the soft glow that hits you when memory and present moment bump shoulders.
Rampal has always had that effect. When he first appeared on the scene, people liked to talk about his looks as if that was the whole story. Sharp jawline, impossible hair, the sort of face that magazines loved before social media learned how to love anything. But the truth is, he slipped into some massive films without making too much noise about it. That quiet confidence turned into a pattern. You look up and realize the guy has been part of more blockbusters than anyone around you seems to remember.
So this Koimoi list lands, neatly reminding everyone of the five big ones. Ra.One. Om Shanti Om. Raajneeti. Housefull. Don: The Chase Begins Again. Five titles that feel as familiar as old playlist tracks you forgot you used to overplay.
Ra.One was probably the height of Bollywood’s futuristic obsession. Everywhere you went in 2011, someone was talking about the special effects or humming Chammak Challo like it was the national anthem. Rampal played the villain with this slow burn menace that made the whole film feel sharper than the CGI sometimes allowed. Even people who rolled their eyes at the plot admitted he looked dangerously good as a supervillain. The box office numbers proved it. People love a stylish bad guy, what can I say.
Om Shanti Om was an entirely different kind of madness. A reincarnation saga soaked in nostalgia, melodrama and sparkles. Rampal walked into that film as the kind of antagonist who never really raises his voice but somehow chills the room anyway. It was fun watching him lean into that vibe. The film exploded everywhere, from Bandra to Birmingham, and his performance stayed pinned to the memory of anyone who lived through 2007’s Bollywood fever.
Then Raajneeti showed up and flipped his image again. Dusty politics, power games, everyone scheming in hushed tones. And there was Rampal, playing a political heir who looked like he had walked straight out of a news channel debate. He carried a weight in that film that people did not expect from him at the time. It changed the conversation around him. Maybe not loudly, but definitely noticeably.
Housefull was pure chaos. One of those all out commercial entertainers where the plot doesn’t matter as long as everyone is having a ridiculous amount of fun. Rampal joined the party with a kind of deadpan charm that made the comedy land better than it should have. Audiences loved it. Sometimes range is just about knowing how to not take yourself too seriously.
And then there was Don, sleek and moody and glossy in that early era of Bollywood trying to grow sharper edges. Rampal’s presence in that ensemble gave the film a coolness that felt refreshing at the time. It was one of those roles that did not scream for attention but still ended up being one of the things people remembered.
All this resurfacing now feels oddly timed, except it is not. The buzz around Dhurandhar, the upcoming 2025 film, has been thick enough to lean on. Rampal posting behind the scenes moments, calling Akshaye Khanna a pure genius, praising Ranveer Singh with the kind of admiration you reserve for someone who surprises you on set. The industry pays attention to things like that. Suddenly the spotlight softens its angle and slides back toward him.
There is probably a little strategic nostalgia at play here. A big new project always sends people digging back into careers, trying to remind everyone of what they loved or at least what they forgot. And honestly, the reminder works. You trace these five films and you see a man who has survived trends, reinventions, entire shifts in the way Indian cinema sells itself.
What I have always liked about Rampal, and I say this as someone who has observed him more than followed him, is that he does not rush anything. He does not chase relevance like it is running away from him. He just reappears when he has something worth showing. That kind of pacing is almost old fashioned now. Maybe that is why it feels refreshing.
Reading the piece today, I caught myself wondering what Dhurandhar will do for his trajectory. Not in a box office sense. More in that deeper way where a performance can change the temperature of how people talk about you. He has had those moments before. It would not shock me if he had another one in him.
The past and the present sit strangely well together in his case. Those earlier films may not define him anymore, but they left enough fingerprints on the pages of Bollywood history that revisiting them feels less like nostalgia and more like checking back in on someone you used to know and realizing they never fully left.
Maybe that is why today’s list hit a little differently. It did not feel like a ranking. It felt like a reminder that some careers move quietly but leave loud echoes behind them. And Rampal, somehow, has always understood how to live in that space.
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Sana has been covering film, fame, and everything in between for over a decade. From red carpets to rehab rumors, she brings nuance, wit, and an insider’s edge to every story. When she’s not reporting, she’s probably watching Koffee With Karan reruns or doom-scrolling celebrity IG feeds.
