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Arjun Rampal says Rauf in 'Rana Naidu' is the most ruthless role of his career

The actor reveals that balancing cruelty with emotion made the role deeply challenging.

Arjun Rampal Rana Naidu

Arjun Rampal says Rauf is the darkest character he has portrayed

Instagram/rananaidunetflix
Pooja Pillai
By Pooja PillaiJun 11, 2025
Pooja Pillai
Pooja was born in Kochi and raised on a mix of newspapers, pop culture, and too many questions. She studied Communicative English and Journalism before earning her Master’s in Journalism from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, and began her career interning at The Times of India and Channel I'M — where she later became a news anchor, scripting and presenting her own stories. Between deadlines, she’s worked across digital media platforms, covering politics, gender, pop culture, cinema, and everything in between. She has interviewed actors, creators, and changemakers, and occasionally edits her own video content — thanks to being certified in Photoshop and InDesign. In 2025, she joined the Asian Media Group in her first “official” newsroom gig, where she now covers entertainment, lifestyle, and the layered realities of South Asian identity. She believes storytelling should feel personal — even when it’s public — and likes to write not to please, but to provoke, question, and occasionally stir the pot.
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Arjun Rampal has stepped into a deeply unsettling place with his portrayal of Rauf in Netflix’s Rana Naidu season 2. The actor, known for playing intense characters, says this role was unlike anything he’s done before.

“He’s the most terrifyingly real character I’ve ever played,” Rampal said. Rauf is unpredictable, violent, and entirely devoid of empathy, yet not completely soulless. What sets him apart is a surprising emotional sliver: the fierce love he holds for his niece. “She’s the only one he protects without question,” he explained. “It’s the only time you see something human in him.”


For Rampal, the challenge wasn’t just about playing a violent man. It was about showing the emotional contradictions buried under that rage. “The fine line between menace and vulnerability is where Rauf lives. That’s what made him so difficult to portray,” he said.

A new layer of conflict in Rana Naidu season 2

In the latest season, Rampal’s character is a new addition to the already explosive dynamic between Rana Daggubati and Venkatesh Daggubati, who play a feuding son and father. Rauf’s entry heightens the emotional stakes, bringing in a cold, calculated energy that shifts the entire tone of the show.

  - YouTube  youtu.be  


Directed by Karan Anshuman, Suparn Verma, and Abhay Chopra, and produced by Locomotive Global Media, Rana Naidu continues to explore themes of loyalty, power, and personal demons, with Rampal’s Rauf adding a new layer of darkness.

bollywood actors on ottemotional contradictionsindian web seriesintense characterskaran anshumannetflix indiarana daggubatirana naidurana naidu season 2rauf characterruthless rolevenkatesh daggubatiarjun rampal

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