Arjun
Rampal
is
sitting
quietly
with
his
wife
Meher
in
his
mammoth
balcony.
Then
he
gets
a
beep
on
his
mobile
and
tries
to
reach
for
the
phone
kept
on
his
coffee
table.
His
eyes
pop
out.
Meher
gets
a
bit
worried
by
seeing
the
expression
on
her
husband's
face.
He
gets
up
and
replies
to
the
text
and
awaits
the
reply
from
the
sender.
Meher
again
asks,
"What's
the
matter?" And
yes,
the
second
time
around,
Arjun
had
to
answer.
"I've
just
won
the
National
Award".
Both
start
yelling
and
screaming,
jumping
with
joy.
It
was
the
afternoon
they'll
cherish
for
the
rest
of
their
lives.
God
Bless!
But
hey,
the
excitement
wasn't
limited
to
them
two.
On
the
same
night,
Arjun
invited
some
of
his
close
friends
to
be
a
part
in
his
celebration
for
winning
the
highest
honour
in
the
field
of
acting.
The
stampede
included
Rock
On
pals,
Farhan
Akhtar,
Prachi
Desai,
close
friends
Chunky
Pandey
with
wife
Bhavna,
Saif
Ali
Khan
popped
the
champagne
bottle
in
grand
style,
there
was
Sohail
Khan,
Karisma
Kapoor,
Sajid
Khan,
Riteish
Deshmukh,
and
many
more
who
rocked
till
four
in
the
morning.
The
next
day,
I
meet
him
at
the
same
place,
the
same
balcony
where
the
breaking
news
was
heard.
Arjun
Rampal
looked
like
nothing
had
happened
the
previous
night,
like
there
was
no
National
Award
news
which
he
read
on
his
blackberry.
Rampal
looked
the
same
as
before
-
calm,
composed
and
controlled.
And
that's
what
makes
him
Arjuna:
a
warrior
who
never
gave
up,
a
warrior
who
fought
till
the
end
and
a
warrior
who
believed
in
seeing
the
one
and
only
one
eye
of
the
fish...which
he
calls...the
passion
for
cinema.
We
met
the
warrior
who
won
and
will
keep
on
winning
-
Arjun
Rampal.
So,
has
it
all
paid
off
in
the
end
huh?
A
National
Award
at
the
age
of
thirty
five
plus
and
working
for
almost
a
decade
now.
Yeah.
My
mother
always
used
to
tell
me
that
there
is
no
substitute
to
hard
work
and
perseverance.
You
keep
going
at
it
and
do
not
stop.
You
continue
even
if
you
haven't
hit
your
goal.
I
think,
it's
about
sticking
to
what
you've
always
wanted
to
do,
loving
it,
and
giving
it
that
respect
and
honesty.
I
think
that
was
the
phase
when
Rock
On
and
many
other
things
were
happening
in
my
life.
I
was
not
doing
films
and
was
waiting
for
the
right
ones
to
come.
I've
done
enough
of
mediocre
films
and
it's
time
to
move
ahead
as
I've
had
enough
of
that.
Has
success
found
a
new
meaning
today?
See,
success
and
failure
for
me
are
like
husband
and
wife.
Both
are
hugely
overrated.
How
many
light
bulbs
did
Thomas
Edison
blow
before
he
got
the
right
one?
(Laughs).
But
the
thing
is,
he
stuck
to
it
because
he
wanted
to
create
a
light
bulb.
If
he
had
given
up
on
that,
who
knows,
we
would've
waited
for
the
bulb
for
another
decade.
That's
success.
I
don't
do
films
for
more
money
or
awards.
I
do
it
because
I
love
doing
them.
Just
like
Arshad
is
known
for
his
single
best
performance
in
Munnabhai,
you
too
are
known
for
in
Rock
On.
I'm
sure
people
are
going
to
talk
about
you
and
the
film
for
another
decade.
Well,
let's
hope
I
break
that
mould
with
my
next
film
(laughs).
Once
I've
done
the
film,
it's
gone
and
I
don't
live
in
it
any
more.
I've
nothing
to
do
with
it.
But
I'm
sure
you
must've
re-lived
the
Rock
On
days
yesterday?
Yes,
of
course
I
did.
The
feeling
of
having
won
the
National
Award
is
still
sinking
in.
It's
like
my
sins
being
washed
away.
It's
like
all
the
bad
stuff
I've
done
is
being
forgiven.
That's
the
kind
of
honour
you
feel
when
you
win
an
award
like
this.
It's
like
the
revival
of
your
confidence
and
your
beliefs
of
whatever
that
you
want
to
do
and
say,
"I
just
want
to
do
the
right
stuff
and
work
with
the
right
people".
I
don't
want
to
compromise
now.
That
also
means
that
I'll
be
doing
far
less
work
now
(laughs).
You
seem
all
set
for
a
big
innings
now.
Yes
I
am.
I
don't
want
my
career
to
be
like
a
dice,
that
you're
rolling
it
and
sometimes
a
six
or
a
one
would
come.
I
should
roll
the
dice
in
such
a
way
that
only
six
should
come.
That's
the
kind
of
effort
that
should
go
into
it
and
will
stay
with
me
for
life
long.
Come
March,
you'll
be
walking
to
receive
the
award
from
the
hands
of
the
President
of
India.
Can
you
believe
it?
I
think
it'll
be
the
most
humbling
moment
and
a
memory
which
will
be
cherished
forever.
I'm
looking
forward
to
March
and
am
excited
about
it.
But
then,
I'm
still
an
actor
and
I'll
still
be
making
mistakes
and
will
have
to
come
back
to
the
drawing
board
and
learn
how
to
remove
those
mistakes.
Will
Arjun
Rampal
be
taken
ten
times
more
seriously
now?
The
seriousness
of
anything
and
everything
will
reflect
from
the
kind
of
work
one
keeps
doing.
It
took
me
a
long
time
to
understand
my
craft
and
realise
that
this
is
the
kind
of
work
I
want
to
do.
I
wasn't
scared
of
pushing
the
envelope.
To
sustain,
you
need
to
be
serious
about
your
work.
I
am
serious
about
my
work
and
I
won't
work
with
people
who
are
not
serious
about
it.
I
want
to
work
with
people
who
are
passionate
and
as
committed
and
dedicated
to
giving
you
what
you
are
going
to
give
back.
Serious
filmmakers
have
always
taken
me
seriously
and
that's
why
they've
never
given
up
on
me.
My
fans
too
have
stood
by
me
and
have
taken
me
seriously
and
that's
been
encouraging.
You've
worked
with
Priyanka
Chopra
who
has
also
won
the
National
Award.
Yes.
She
was
great
in
Fashion
and
many
congratulations
to
her.
What
was
really
wonderful
about
this
National
Awards
was
the
fact
that
the
top
three
films
winning
awards
were
commercial
films;
they
were
successful
films
with
commercial
actors
and
were
big
releases.
They
swept
the
National
Awards
because
they
were
different
in
their
content
and
were
pushing
the
envelope.
Plus,
these
weren't
the
films
that
came
in
the
bracket
of
small
films
with
budgets
of
three
to
four
crores.
I
respect
the
National
Awards
more
now
because
they've
started
to
take
commercial
cinema
seriously.
How
much
would
you
love
to
curse
Abhishek
Kapoor
for
not
coming
to
your
party
and
for
loving
him
to
make
Rock
On?
(Laughs)
I
love
him
too
much
and
I'll
never
curse
him.
Gattu
wasn't
here
because
he
was
on
a
flight
to
Goa
on
the
day
I
kept
a
party
for
selected
friends
to
celebrate
my
National
Award.
I
think
I'll
fly
down
to
Goa
tomorrow
and
party
with
him.
I'm
so
proud
of
him
and
he's
the
guy
who
truly
deserves
this.
He
is
the
same
guy
who
sits
at
every
award
function
and
says,
'Damn,
I
didn't
win
the
Best
Film
Award'.
But
today
he
has
won
the
National
Award
for
the
Best
Film.
That
makes
up
for
everything.
I'll
only
curse
Gattu
if
he
doesn't
do
Rock
On
2.