During the 1980s, he had several roles in Romanian productions, beginning with Lucian Pintilie's 1981 film "De ce trag clopotele, Mitică?", where he played Pampon, one of the main roles, while his wife Mihuţ was cast as Pampon's lover Miţa Baston. Pintilie, who planned the production over several years, later recounted that he had meant to cast Toma Caragiu as Pampon, and that he considered asking him just before Caragiu's death in the 1977 earthquake. Regarding the new spin on his character, he noted: "It was a Pampon, one of those who waste nights away, play cards, suffer out of love, is always jealous, is always cheated but does not ever realize it. It was a Pampon with a reduced intellect and tired, who only understands things with difficulty." Although set during the Belle Époque and based on works by Caragiale, the film's bleak atmosphere and irreverent tone alluded to the realities of Communist Romania, which caused it to be censored and ultimately banned before it could premiere. The cooperation between the actor and director cemented their friendship: Rebengiuc calls Pintile "a great director", and states "I love him like a brother."