[11] Rampal made his acting debut in Rajiv Rai's Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat (2001) opposite Sunil Shetty, Aftab Shivdasani and Kirti Reddy.

[12] Taran Adarsh of indiaFM wrote "Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat is a showcase for Arjun Rampal to exhibit his talent.

[citation needed] Taran Adarsh of IndiaFM wrote: "Arjun Rampal carries the film on his broad shoulders and comes up with a sincere performance that is consistent throughout.

[18] His next release was Kundan Shah's Dil Hai Tumhaara opposite Rekha, Preity Zinta, Mahima Chaudhry and Jimmy Shergill.

Ronjita Kulkarni of Rediff wrote: "Arjun Rampal shakes off his wooden image and comes up with a good performance.

[citation needed] Taran Adarsh praised his performance, quoting: "the easy-going attitude his character reflects injects that certain sheen to the enterprise.

"[22][23] Rampal's first release of 2005 was Satish Kaushik's Vaada, in which he played a lead role opposite Ameesha Patel and Zayed Khan.

"[28] Rampal's last release of the year was Apoorva Lakhia's Ek Ajnabee opposite Amitabh Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Perizaad Zorabian.

"[30] His first release of 2006 was the love triangle based Humko Tumse Pyaar Hai opposite Bobby Deol and Ameesha Patel.

Rampal starred in the story "Spirits Do Come" opposite Bipasha Basu and Makrand Deshpande, directed by Prawal Raman.

as Joseph "Joe" Mascarenhas, the lead guitarist of a band, a poor idealist who never learned that self-promotion is more important than music in a remixed world.

"[46] Later that year, he starred in Rituparno Ghosh's English-language arthouse film The Last Lear, alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Preity Zinta.

"[49] Rampal's only release of 2009 was Deepak Tijori's Fox, in which he starred opposite Sunny Deol, Sagarika Ghatge and Udita Goswami.

The film mainly received negative reviews and flopped at the box office, but Rampal earned critical acclaim.

[53][54] His last release of the year was Siddharth Malhotra and Karan Johar's We Are Family, in which he played a lead role opposite Kajol and Kareena Kapoor.

He wrote: "It's only after the interval that the plot meanders a bit, loses it sting and almost falls apart like a pixelised image, before Arjun lights up the screen.

"[61] Rampal had three releases in 2012: Madhur Bhandarkar's Heroine, Prakash Jha's Chakravyuh and the comedy movie Ajab Gazabb Love, with all three failing at the box office.

[64] In Chakravyuh, Rampal played the role of a police officer, SP Adil Khan, starring opposite Abhay Deol, Esha Gupta, Manoj Bajpai, Om Puri and Anjali Patil.

[67] Rohit Vats of CNN-IBN wrote: "Arjun Rampal's image and dialogue delivery mar his chances, but it is one of his better performances, in fact he has given Abhay Deol a run for his money in double shots.

Post Chakravyuh, which released a few months ago, this is yet another power-packed performance that makes you realize that this supermodel has transformed into a super actor.

"[75] His next film was Nikhil Advani's action movie D-Day, co-starring Rishi Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Shruti Haasan and Huma Qureshi.

Movies wrote: "As a former army officer and now an undercover agent, Arjun is intense and sharp, his body language apt and his performance precise.

com wrote: "Arjun Rampal has excelled himself by leaps and bound and makes a commendable effort of an ex-army man turned RAW Agent delightfully.

Rampal was featured in an ensemble cast including Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan, Kareena Kapoor, Manoj Bajpayee and Amrita Rao.

His role was critically praised and Rajeev Masand of News18 wrote "It's a shrewd performance, relying almost entirely on body language over histrionics, and the actor doesn't disappoint."

[87] Rampal was to make his Telugu film debut with Hari Hara Veera Mallu in the role of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, but has dropped out due to other commitments.

In 2023, Rampal eventually made his Telugu debut as the antagonist in Bhagavanth Kesari, which enjoyed a decent run at the box office.

[91] In November 2011, Rampal started hosting a new television show called Love 2 Hate U airing on STAR World India.

The show also featured Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Ganesh Hegde, Javed Ali and Anusha Dandekar.

[107] Rampal's luxury night club "Lap", situated in New Delhi, hosting DJs and musicians like Lady Gaga, the Formula 1 after-parties, attended by Bernie Ecclecston.