Rampal was born on 26 November 1972 in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India, in a family with military background. His maternal grandfather, Brigadier Gurdayal Singh, designed the first artillery gun for the Indian Army post-independence. His father is a Brahmin while his mother is part Sikh and part Dutch. He grew up in a multicultural environment where the family celebrated Christmas, Diwali and Eid. He stayed with his mother after the separation of his parents and attended St. Patrick School (Devlali, Nashik) where his mother was a teacher. He then attended the prestigious Kodaikanal International School. Later, he graduated with a degree in Economics with honours from Hindu College, Delhi. He went on to become a model. Actress Kim Sharma is Arjun Rampal’s first cousin.

Rampal married Mehr Jesia in 1998 and has two daughters with her. On 28 May 2018 the couple announced their separation in a joint statement after 20 years of marriage. They were granted divorce by a Bandra family court in November 2019. The couple’s two daughters will live with their mother.

Alongside acting, Arjun Rampal has performed in many international stage concerts with several of Bollywood actors and actresses. In 2002, Rampal participated in his first world tour; Heartthrobs: Live in Concert with Hrithik Roshan, Aftab Shivdasani and sisters Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor. His next concert was the international Temptations 2004 with Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta and Priyanka Chopra. It was the most successful Bollywood concert at the time. Nineteen shows occurred across the globe.

In 2003, Rampal played a lead role in Naresh Malhotra’s Dil Ka Rishta opposite Aishwarya Rai. Rampal earned critical acclaim for his performance. Ronjita Kulkarni of Rediff wrote: “Arjun Rampal shakes off his wooden image and comes up with a good performance. He is subtle and convincing in the emotional scenes. He has certainly moved on from Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat.” It was ranked the thirtieth film of the year on the basis of box office collections. Rampal’s next role was in Khalid Mohammed’s Tehzeeb opposite Urmila Matondkar. Rampal played a Muslim in the film. The film earned critical acclaim. Taran Adarsh praised his performance, quoting: “the easy-going attitude his character reflects injects that certain sheen to the enterprise.”

In 2004, Rampal collaborated with Rajiv Rai for the second time in his first action thriller Asambhav. Rampal starred opposite Priyanka Chopra and played the role of an Indian commando Captain Aadit Arya. The film was entirely shot in Switzerland. Released on 23 July, Asambhav was Rampal’s only release of the year. Shahid Khan of Planet Bollywood wrote: “Arjun Rampal looks good and he suits the mould of the action hero very well.”

In 2007, Rampal starred in a negative role in Om Shanti Om opposite Shah Rukh Khan and the debuting Deepika Padukone. The film emerged as the year’s highest-grossing film in India and the overseas market, and became India’s highest grossing production ever up to that point with a worldwide gross of over ₹ 1.48 billion. It was Rampal’s biggest hit in his career and earned him critical acclaim for his villainous role. Sukanya Verma of Rediff wrote: “Rampal’s persona exudes too much warmth to pass off as a cold-blooded antagonist.” Rampal won the Zee Cine Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role for his villainous performance in Om Shanti Om and got nominations at the IIFA, Star Screen and Apsara ceremonies.

Following the success of Om Shanti Om, Rampal started to rise as a successful actor. In 2008, Rampal gave an excellent performance in Rock On!! 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. Rampal learned guitar to prepare for his role. His performance was widely acclaimed, earning him the prestigious National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 56th National Film Awards, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award at the 54th Filmfare Awards, IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 10th IIFA Awards and Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor. This brought wider success and acclaim to Rampal. Noted critic Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India praised Rampal’s performance and wrote: “If you actually had to choose, then the vote would go for Arjun Rampal who displays a newfound maturity and looks absolutely groovy with his windblown hair and his guitar-strumming stance.” Martin D’Souza of Bollywood Trade News Network praised Rampal, writing: “Arjun Rampal is slowly coming into his own. After playing a character with a negative shade in Om Shanti Om, he returns with another powerful performance as Joe Mascarenhas, the lead guitarist of the band. Vibrant at first, and then subdued he walks the act with a rock star gait.”

In 2008, Rampal made his television debut as one of the three judges of the fourth season of the dance reality television show Nach Baliye on STAR Plus. The other two judges were choreographer Farah Khan and film actress Karisma Kapoor. In 2010, Rampal hosted the 5th Apsara Awards with Preity Zinta.

In 2008, Rampal participated in Temptations Reloaded 2008, a series of concerts showcased across several different countries. It was set by Shah Rukh Khan. The show also featured Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Ganesh Hegde, Javed Ali and Anusha Dandekar. It took place at the Ahoy Rotterdam venue in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Several months later, Rampal again joined Khan, Kapoor and Kaif to perform for 15,000 spectators at Dubai’s Festival City Arena. In 2010, Rampal was paired with Khan in a concert at the Army Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh to a packed audience. The other participants were Rani Mukerji, Neeraj Shridhar and Ishaa Koppikar.

2010 would go on to become the most successful year of Rampal’s career with three back to back hits. The first was Sajid Khan’s comedy film Housefull, in which he starred in a supporting role. The film received negative reviews, but became a huge hit at the box office. Rampal’s next release was Prakash Jha’s multi-starrer Raajneeti. Rampal received critical acclaim for his supporting role of Prithvi in the movie. Taran Adarsh wrote: “Arjun is a revelation and what a terrific performance he pitches in. He’s like an untamed lion.” His performance earned him a nomination for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. He won the award in the Best Supporting Actor at the IIFA, Apsara and Zee Cine categories. 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. It was an average grosser and Rampal’s first successful movie that featured him in a lead role. Taran Adarsh wrote: “Arjun continues to surprise. Rock On!!, Housefull, Raajneeti and now We Are Family indicates the growth of this actor. He handles the emotional moments well, too.”

In 2011, Rampal played the titular negative role in Anubhav Sinha’s science fiction movie Ra.One. The movie became a successful film in India and overseas and received mixed reviews. Rampal’s new bald look earned him a lot of appreciation and popularity within the audiences. Majority of the fans considered his “Ra. One” look to be better than that of the protagonist “G.One”. He earned critical acclaim for his villainous performance. Martin D’Souza praised Rampal’s performance and considered him to be the saviour of the film that was being flawless in the second half. 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.” Arthur J Pais of Rediff.com wrote: “The best person to gain from the film directed by Anubhav Sinha with more inane and crude sexual jokes than in any recent Hindi film, is Arjun Rampal. His body language and brooding face creates a quietly menacing villain.” Raja Sen wrote: “Arjun Rampal is the best thing in the biggest budget Indian feature of all time.” Aseem Chhabra considered Rampal to be the “most interesting element of the film.”

In November 2011, Rampal started hosting a new television show called Love 2 Hate U airing on STAR World India. The theme of the show was that Rampal would try and change the perception of people who hate Bollywood actors by bringing them face to face with them. The first episode aired on 20 November and the last episode aired on 15 January. In 2019, Rampal made his debut in a digital web series with The Final Call in which he played Captain Karan Sachdev and won the Best Actor in a Web Series Award.

His next film Roy was initially scheduled to release in 2014 but it was delayed and ultimately released in 2015. He portrayed the main protagonist of the romantic thriller alongside Jacqueline Fernandez and Ranbir Kapoor. This was a critical and commercial failure. Critic Sarita A. Tanwar described it as a “boring, exhausting and pretentious” film.

In 2016, Rampal starred in the sequel to Rock On!!, Rock On!! 2 alongside Farhan Akhtar, Shraddha Kapoor, Purab Kohli, in which he reprised the role of Joe Mascarenhas. It was a flop at box-office owing primarily to demonetisation but the camaraderie between the actors was appreciated in the film. His next release was Kahaani 2, in which he portrayed the role of a sub-inspector on the hunt of missing protagonist (portrayed by Vidya Balan). The film was an average grosser but his performance was appreciated.

Rampal has gained a frequent popularity and fan base on the basis of his good looks and acting. He is described as a versatile and popular actor by the media. He has been frequently described by the Indian media as “the hunk”. He was voted as The Times of India’s “Most Desirable Man” of 2012, beating 49 other men including actors, politicians and sportsmen. Also in 2017, he was included in Times of India’s ”Most Desirable Man” list at No. 9. In 2012, Arjun Rampal, in association with Percept Limited launched “Lost Festival”. “Lost” is a music festival driven by culture, tradition & soul. In 2013, he joined PETA, in its campaign to ban horse-drawn carriages in Mumbai. Rampal’s luxury night club “Lap”, situated in New Delhi became the toast of town, hosting top DJs and musicians like Lady Gaga, the Formula 1 after-parties, attended by Bernie Ecllecston himself. He shut the club in 2016 after 8 years.

His next venture was a biopic on gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli called Daddy in which he portrayed Arun Gawli and also produced the film. He reduced 10 kg weight and missed workout for nearly two years to portray the character. 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.” His upcoming projects are Mughal Road and Nastik in 2019.

In April 2019, Rampal announced that his girlfriend, Gabriella Demetriades, is pregnant. Demetriades gave birth to a boy in July 2019.