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." Rampal's first release of 2005 was Satish Kaushik's Vaada, in which he played a lead role opposite Ameesha Patel and Zayed Khan. The film was a flop. Patcy N of Rediff praised Rampal, writing: "Arjun Rampal has done a good job; his is a subdued performance, and the model-turned-actor looks great in most scenes." Rampal's next release was Vikram Bhatt's multi-starrer action film Elaan. The film managed to do well and became an average-grosser at the box office. Rampal earned critical acclaim for his performance in Elaan. Subhash K. Jha of IANS praised Rampal and wrote: "Arjun is pretty much on his own. Once again playing a man with responsibilities he brings a controlled conviction to both his scenes with his screen daughter and his engrossing death scene." Merril Diniz of Rediff wrote: "Arjun Rampal is almost believable as the rugged ex-cop. He has a deep baritone and svelte body language." Rampal's third release of the year was the mystery thriller Yakeen, in which Rampal was paired in a lead role with Priyanka Chopra for the second time. He received acclaim for improving his emotional acting. Taran Adarsh praised his performance, quoting: "Cast in complex role, Arjun Rampal delivers his best performance so far. The role would've lost its bearings had it been entrusted to an inferior actor, but Arjun sinks