The characters of Ajay Devgn, Ranbir Kapoor, Manoj Bajpai,
Katrina Kaif, Sarah Thompson, Naseeruddin Shah and Nana Patekar
are loosely inspired by those in the epic Mahabharata.
Arjun said: "Prakash came to me five years ago with the
script of 'Raajneeti'. He discussed how he wanted to make it
almost like Mahabharata by taking certain characters from the
epic and putting them into the political backdrop of the film.
He wanted me to play the character of Bhim. I liked the idea.
"He disappeared for five years and then he called me back.
I read the script and started working out how the character
would be.
"He (Arjun's character Prithiviraj Pratap) is a person
with big heart and wants to achieve something fast in life.
He is aggressive. He is a person who sees either black or white.
If he likes something, he loves it. If he dislikes something,
he hates it. So he would be on that level of extremes. He goes
through gamut of emotions. And he has a very good sense of politics."
According to Arjun, every character in "Raajneeti"
is indispensable.
"He (Prakash Jha) has not done injustice to any of the
characters. It's like a jigsaw puzzle. If you remove one, the
film would fall apart. Everyone has got almost equal screen
time."
In real life, however, Arjun says he lacks the built-in quality
to be a true politician and would not try his luck in politics.
"You really need a different kind of qualities to be a
politician. I don't think that I have those qualities, but,
yes, if there is an issue, I will voice it."
In last few years, Arjun has featured in hits like "Don"
(2006), "Om Shanti Om"(2007), "The Last Lear"
(2007), "Rock On!" (2008) and "Housefull"(2010).
"I have been choosing the work I would like to do and
luckily the choices are working."