Though his first step into Bollywood had already been taken (with the Sudhir Mishra produced flop Sikandar), people sat up and noticed him first as the handsome hunk who opens the door to Sonam Kapoor in Aisha. Considerably tall (at 6'4'') and well built, Arunoday Singh was all smouldering eyes and brawn in the film. But Arunoday (he happens to be politician Arjun Singh's grandson) who is all set to appear in Yeh Saali Zindagi wants to be reckoned as more than 'a shirtless guy'.
Having worked as a bouncer to make some quick bucks while he was a struggling actor in US, he feels that his well-endowed physique is something that will always remain an essential part of him. "In Yeh Saali Zindagi, I play a street thug with a very tough, macho look…I guess it has helped that I used to work as a bouncer. I feel everything in life helps you to reach somewhere." With a pause he adds, "I just happen to be taller and broader than the next actor…I think I am a nice package."
But his 'looks' is something that Arunoday hopes does not always influence film-makers in casting him in very obvious roles. "I am definitely more than a shirtless guy," says the actor with great emphasis. He refers to Abhay Deol's role in Aisha and says, "I would have loved to play that character - you know… the brooding, thinking man…but I have no regrets."
Talking on the subject of regretting decisions made in the past, Arunoday accepts he never quite understood the big hullabaloo around the infamous spat between Abhay Deol and Sonam Kapoor (his co-stars in Aisha). In the light of the film's mediocre run at the box-office, Abhay had reportedly said that he would never work in a film like Aisha again. Arunoday is quite candid, "I absolutely have no regrets. Why would I? Everybody tries to do their best. Even I did what I had to do, within the limited presence I had in the film."
He may not be the one to harbour regrets and heartburns, but the actor admits that despite now being four films-old in Bollywood, his family still remains extremely critical about his choice of roles and performances. He laughs as he tells that his two sisters and his mother are his greatest critics. "My mother (Suniti) is very good with nuances. We have grown up in the family, watching films. My father, you can say, is the balance between all of them."
Arunoday does not mind speaking about his filial connection to politician and former HRD Minister Arjun Singh who is his grandfather, but also states clearly, "I just happen to be related. I don't want to be remembered just as Arjun Singh's grandson." While he accepts that it is almost impossible to escape the "politician's grandson" tag, he makes it clear that neither has it helped him getting cast in films nor has it acted against him.
At the risk of being labeled as choosy, Arunoday matter-of-factly accepts that after Yeh Saali..., there is no other project that he has signed. Not that he isn't being offered scripts, but as he puts it, a lot of people have been trying to put him in very obvious roles. He clarifies, "It's OK to be choosy. A lot of people have been wanting to put me into the Aisha mode," and adds, "Dropping my shirt is not a big deal but having an IQ of 180, I'd like to play the thinking man as well."
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