Randeep Hooda: Watching ceremony at Wagah border more like watching Indo-Pak match

Actor Randeep Hooda is thrilled as he finally got to fulfil his parents’ wish to witness the Beating Retreat ceremony at Wagah border, Punjab. The Extraction (2020) actor shares that the short trip was more of an emotional affair.

“It was my parents’ wish to attend the beating retreat parade at the border. Watching our glorious history had my mom in tears and my dad and me speechless, and in awe with pride. So much blood, sweat and personal sacrifice goes into keeping our borders safe”,” Hooda tells us.

Interestingly, the actor sought the help of his school friends instead of using his celebrity status to get those perfect seats. “To avoid chaos and the feeling of being fish in a fish bowl, I sought some help. It was not the so-called celebrity call but a message placed in the school batch group that resulted in this fine experience,” Hooda says.

The actor explains that he reached out to a classmate, who is in Border Security Force (BSF), who made it happen for them. “He called his course mate posted in the city to make sure that my parents get the whole ‘apne uncle aunty hain’ experience,” he shares.

During the trip, Hooda also explored Amritsar along with his family and spent time with BSF personnels and enjoyed a meal in the BSF mess. It was also his first visit to the border in Amritsar. Opening up about his experience, the 45-year-old shares, “It was more like watching an India Pakistan match where instead of players, there were very smartly-dressed soldiers”.

“I was privy to some of their preparations of dressing up to the T and stretching their legs. It reminded me of my Prithvi days in a way really,” adds Hooda, who earlier visited the Ferozpur border while on a break from shooting Highway (2014).

Hooda adds that watching the exchanges between the two sides, the coordination, the whole drill left him with goosebumps.

“One gets goosebumps when it starts and the first soldier marches with his soles seeing the sky in every stride… A hair raising feeling goes through you as more soldiers with different flamboyant moves charge each other from both sides to come face to face culminating into the flags lowering of both countries,” confesses the actor.

And there are many lessons that he has come back with. “The discipline, the sense of duty and the pride in the uniform and the country it serves is something we as citizens should always be grateful for,” Hooda concludes, adding that he also went to the BSF museum with his family.