For someone who was called teakwood for at least half a decade before seeing some acclaim coming his way, Arjun Rampal has come a long way indeed.

It is difficult to believe that the man, who was considered gawky by quite a few during his initial days of 'Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat' and 'Deewanapan', would one day rise up to the highest pedestal and turn out to be receipient of awards at the National level (for 'Rock On').

Now that 'Housefull' has got some good acclaim coming for him, Arjun Rampal is back on scene close to two years after the release of 'Rock On'. He is also looking forward to the release of 'Rajneeti' this June where he has a pivotal role to play.

Still, one wonders where Arjun was for most part of year 2009. Except for a sole release in the form of 'Fox' (which came and went without making any noise whatsoever), Arjun seemed totally missing from all the action?

"Nahi yaar, I wasn't missing from action. In fact I was working on as many as three films right through the year", explains Arjun, "I was out of country for two months working on 'Housefull' and after that I was in Bhopal soon after to shoot for 'Rajneeti'.

Meanwhile, admist all this travel, I was also opening my club and had to spend some time on that. Once I was done with this, I went into doing the remake of 'Stepmom' for Dharma Productions."

He adds with a sigh, "In fact today I feel like taking some real break from action because all these films and events took a lot out of me. It was all so very exhausting. However, looks like I would have to wait for a while because now I am shooting for 'Ra.1'."

'Ra.1' with Shah Rukh Khan and 'Housefull' with Akshay Kumar'! Looks like here is one smart actor who is maintaining a happy professional and personal relationship with both the actors who are supposed to be heading their own huge camps.

"This entire camp business is a perception actually", Arjun refuses to become a part of this conversation here, "When actors work together then you obviously become a family.

You get stuck together for so many months and it's up to you that how comfortable do you wish to be with people around you. This is why, it is not just about being comfortable with say, Shah Rukh or Akshay here."

Elaborating on his stand, Arjun adds, "This way I am equally comfortable with Farhan (Akhtar) as well. Of course right through the shooting, you may not hang out with everyone once you come out of the sets.

But yes, one thing which is common is that everybody wants to do good work and be a part of a good film. I think that's the similarity between all of us here and this is why we think of each other when we make films."