Bollywood Hungama

15 years of Ra.One EXCLUSIVE: Remember the long-haired goon whose hair flew because of G.One's shoe? Actor recalls his UNFORGETTABLE experience with Shah Rukh Khan: I had a small role, yet he remembered my name

In Ra.One (2011), theres an entertaining action sequence that takes place right after the intermission, outside an airport. Sonia (Kareena Kapoor Khan) and Prateek (Armaan Verma) insist that G.One (Shah Rukh Khan) should stop beating up the goons and tell him, No touching. G.One, who is all set to kick a ruffian, stops at the last moment. However, his leg is so close to the goons face that his hair starts flying, as if a high-powered fan fitted in G.Ones shoe! The long-haired goon was played by Charanpreet Siingh. He has worked as an actor in several films, including Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns (2013), Zanjeer (2013), Ugly (2014), etc. He has also worked as a Punjabi dialect coach for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Sarbjit (2016), Tiger Shroff in A Flying Jatt (2016), Arjun Kapoor in Mubarakan (2017), etc. As Ra.One completed 15 years on October 26, Bollywood Hungama exclusively spoke to Charanpreet Siingh about his experience of working on the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer. How did you bag the part in Ra.One? I had just arrived in Mumbai and had worked in the Malayalam film The Train (2011), starring Mammootty. I was looking for more work. I knew Siddharth Sengupta, who later directed Good Luck Jerry (2022). Siddharth, Amar Kaushik (director of Stree) and I, along with many others, were part of the same group. Siddharths friend was Harish Dinkar, who was an assistant director on Ra.One. Harish asked Siddharth if he knew any actor who had long hair. Those days, I had very long hair and hence, Siddharth asked me to try my luck. I sent my photographs and was selected. I was very happy as I knew it was a film starring Shah Rukh Khan. I was flown to Hyderabad for a 15-day shoot. How was it working with Shah Rukh Khan? Shah Rukh Khan is an actor whom probably everyone loves. And he definitely has that aura. That was my first impression of him. We met every day. I had a small role and yet, we used to exchange Hello and Hi. On the last day, I asked him if I could click a picture with him. What surprised me was that he knew my name! I had introduced myself earlier, but I wasnt expecting him to remember it. He said, Haan, haan, Charan. Aa ja. I remember that at that moment, it suddenly hit me that I had come from a small town (Dehradun) and was now working alongside Shah Rukh Khan. He made me feel so comfortable despite being such a huge star. This is what makes him so loved. He instantly makes you feel special. Ill remember it for the rest of my life. Did he share any inputs or tips? There was no dialogue in the scene. Before shooting it, he put his hand on my shoulder, took me aside and explained how to perform the shot. In fact, he taught me an important lesson in acting. He told me to visualize the shot in my mind. In the scene, I had to beat up Shah Rukh. What he meant was that I should get into my character and imagine that I was actually going to beat up SRKs character. Once I did that, the angry expressions automatically appeared on my face. What feedback did you get for your part? Though it was a small role, it got noticed. I knew Tigmanshu Dhulia well. He called me and asked, Tu Ra.One mein hai kya?! That made me realize that people were recognizing me. Since mine was a close-up shot, my face was clearly visible and that helped (Charanpreet Siingh later went on to play a small role in Tigmanshu Dhulias Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns). What are you doing nowadays? I directed a film called Unfinished Story (2022). It had a run at film festivals and was even released in cinemas. More recently, I directed Draped In Silence towards the end of 2025. It is currently being screened at various film festivals. It also premiered at the first edition of the International Film Festival Delhi (IFFD), which took place at Bharat Mandapam. Next, itll be screened at the Waves Film Bazaar during IFFI (International Film Festival of India) 2026 in Goa.