Model-turned-actor Arjun Rampal can’t stop raving about the immense response his negative portrayal has garnered in the rushes of ‘RA.One’.

Talking to a daily about his out-an-out negative role, that too opposite Shah Rukh Khan, Arjun said, “Frankly, it came as a surprise to me. But Shah Rukh was clear that this is a film where the good beats the evil, and the evil has to be played by me. He was sure that he wanted only me to play the antagonist (pauses). It was a great feeling to have one of the biggest stars of the industry have so much faith in me.”

Apparently, Arjun Rampal carries a unique look as RA.One. Talking about his character and image, the actor revealed, “Not an easy job. I had only one-and-half months to meet the deadline. I had a slip disc after completing ‘Rajneeti’. And here I was being told that I was supposed to look like a machine. I reduced my intake of carbohydrates and started consuming lots of protein. A stage came when I had to completely cut off carbohydrates from my diet. You know what...In the crazy regimen, which I followed, my body fat level went down to 0.8 per cent, which is certainly not recommended. You need to have at least 3 per cent body fat. And then, I had to shave my head.”

After ‘Om Shanti Om’, ‘Housefull’ and ‘Rajneeti’ is Arjun being typecased in negative roles? “Excuse me...I was not a villain in ‘Housefull’. And who wouldn`t play Mukesh Mehra in ‘Om Shanti Om’ wherein I got an opportunity to display a gamut of emotions? ‘Rajneeti’ too was simply a grey character. And who wouldn`t do RA.One where you have dialogues like ‘Tum log Ravan ko har saal isliye jalate ho kyunki woh kabhi nahi marta’,” quipped the actor.