A medical officer from Pakhowal in Ludhiana district is enjoying sudden celebrity status after acting alongside Ranveer Singh in ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’, a role that came his way after he treated actor Arjun Rampal for a head injury on the same sets.
‘Dhurandhar 2’, directed by Aditya Dhar of ‘Uri’ fame, was extensively shot across Punjab, with locations including a railway track near Ludhiana and Shahnewal Airport in the district serving as key backdrops.
The production’s extended Punjab schedule brought the film’s biggest stars into contact with locals, police personnel, and at least one government doctor pressed into unexpected service—and then into the movie itself.
Dr Sunny Ashok, posted at the government health facility in Kalakh village, was called to the shooting location on July 8, 2025, when actor Arjun Rampal sustained a head injury during a chase sequence being filmed at the railway track.
“There was panic as it seemed Arjun would need scans and hospitalisation,” Dr Ashok recalled. “However, the injury was not serious. I checked his reflexes. All were happy that he was okay.”
The shooting team called Dr Ashok back three days later, on the night of July 11, when a schedule was underway at Shahnewal Airport. It was there that a throwaway remark by Ranveer Singh turned into an actual screen moment.
“I asked Ranveer for a photo, at which he put his arm around my shoulder and said, ‘Brother, why just a photo, we will take you in the movie,’” Dr Ashok recalled. “I thought he was joking.”
He was not. Director Aditya Dhar explained on the spot that a scene required an injured Ranveer Singh to receive medical attention as he deplaned.
Dr Ashok was cast then and there. “That’s my scene in the movie, though it is a split second,” he said.
The shot was done in a single take. “Dhar congratulated me for acting natural, saying I never looked into the camera and behaved exactly as a doctor would when seeing an injured Indian hero de-boarding a plane,” Dr Ashok said.
The cameo, brief as it is, has been enough to make Dr Ashok a local celebrity. Friends spotted him in a circulating video, and word spread quickly through WhatsApp groups, reaching colleagues, neighbours, and residents of Pakhowal town.
“All are asking me how the experience was,” he said.
Dr Ashok said the stars were nothing like the distant figures one might imagine. “All the film crew, and especially Ranveer and Arjun Rampal, were very down to earth and friendly,” he said.
Dr Ashok’s family has another connection with Bollywood. His father, Dr Devinder Ashok, was among the friends of Dharmendra from Punjab. He cherished many photographs he had with the original “He-Man of Hindi cinema” and his family.
Dr Sunny Ashok (centre) with Dharmendra and his father, Dr Devinder Ashok, in 2010.