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Biography

"Kaho Naa…Pyar Hai?"Rakesh Roshan's twenty-six year old son didn't know what was in store for him when he innocently asked this question. Today, you have the entire nation saying "haan" to Hrithik Roshan. Suddenly, Hrithik is the new hype song in town. Yeh Dil Maange More? You bet.

Ironically enough it's Coke that has snagged this latest sensation for a staggering sum of three crores. Every filmmaker in town, right from Sooraj Barjatya to Subhash Ghai, wants to work with the "with it".

Roshan and Hrithik - better known as Duggu - just can't get over the euphoria. Everybody's favourite cover boy still hasn't recovered.

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"He's dreading the release of his next two films. There are too many expectations from him. He wonders if he'll 'be able to live up to them. He's too young and this kind of hype can get to anybody. He doesn't want to be known as a one film wonder," confesses a close family friend. And hastens to add, "Though I don't think he has anything to fear. He's here to stay."

Shekhar Kapur would probably say, "I told you so" to this one. Not many know that Hrithik was supposed to make his debut in Shekhar's Ta Ra Rum Pum opposite Preity Zinta. "Yeah," admits Hrithik sheepishly. "I had met Shekhar, things were almost finalised, but then Shekhar got busy with Hollywood."

"I would re-enact Shah Rukh's scenes in Koyla"

Shekhar may have said "naa" to Hrithik for Hollywood but that didn't stop the determined Capricornian dude from pursuing his dreams. Like Hrithik himself admits, "Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be an actor, it was always there in the back of my mind, though I was probably scared to admit it. I remember once when my dad had asked me, 'So son what do you want to do with your life?' I had told him I wanted to be an actor. Though, at that time, dad felt I was too young. He asked me to study, go abroad, the usual stuff that parents want from their kids.

"I could understand why he didn't want me to join films then. He has struggled a lot in this line. He knows that's this is a very insecure place. Obviously, he didn't want his son to go through the same trauma that he went through. Later on, of course, I started assisting him because I was so involved with films. I wanted to learn everything about films and filmmaking. Stuff about camera angles, lighting technique, the works. And I must say all that knowledge has helped me so much.

"I mean, there are so many stars who look brilliant on screen. But when you meet them in person you go, 'Oh, they look so normal, ya.' So you never know what the camera can highlight and what it doesn't. I wanted to know how I looked on screen. So I had this standby arrangement with the cameraman when I was assisting dad during Koyla. After pack up, he would stay back and I would enact Shah Rukh's scenes in front of the camera. I used to keep learning new things about myself everyday when I used to watch myself in the editing room after dad left."

"Being an assistant has taught me important lessons"

"It's been a great experience, assisting dad for five long years. I've learnt to value every single person behind the camera. Because I've lived with them as an assistant. I've travelled by second class. I was always made to travel by second class. I've lived with the unit, bathed in ground water, I never lived in the same hotel as the stars and my dad. I used to meet dad only on the sets and go back to the unit people after pack up.

"It was something I wanted to do. It was the right thing to do. Living with dad and knowing how much he's been through in life brought about this decision. Dad has come up the hard way, I've seen him struggle. So when I started out as an assistant , I didn't feel comfortable living with the stars. I wanted to live with the people I was working with. After being an assistant, I've realised how to treat people. My five years as an assistant have taught me a lot of important lessons which I will never forget.

"Today, I don't need an AC room. Sometimes, I forget I'm a star and that I'm not supposed to dirty my clothes. Earlier, as an assistant, I was used to sitting on the floor Believe it or not, I still do it so many times unconsciously. I have plopped myself on the floor only to have an assistant running up to me to say, 'Saab, what are you doing?' And then I'm like, "Oh shit, I'm not an assistant any more. I guess the assistant instincts are always alive.

"There were so many times when dad was directing someone else's shot during Kaho Naa.. and if there was any production hassle, I would forget that I was the hero and start trying to sort the problem. It came to a point when dad told me, 'Relax. You're the hero.' I had to curb my assistant mentality because it used to affect my performance."

"Dad gave me four months to get ready for my launch"

Hrithik has a very interesting tale to tell about his debut film, the one that changed his destiny. Recounts the heart throb, "I was assisting dad those days and dad was planning this particular film. We were working on the subject and dad wasn't sure about who to cast. He was toying with the idea of casting Shah Rukh or probably some other established star. After a couple of story discussions, I told dad during one of our brain storming sessions, 'Honestly, dad, I wouldn't want to see an actor like Shah Rukh in this role. It's a role which would suit a newcomer. The entire romantic teenage angle wouldn't be fair to an actor of Shah Rukh's calibre. And he's done roles like these before. So what's new?'

"Dad didn't say anything then but after some days he called me to his room to say, 'Son, I'm launching you in this film as a hero.' I was too shocked to react. I just walked out of the room in a daze. He followed me and asked me if I would do the film. I told him, 'OK, just give me some time to prepare. He gave me four months or so. I wanted to be completely prepared before I started shooting. The next day onwards, I joined Kishore Namit Kapoor's acting classes. I also joined Anupam Kher's workshop. I took diction classes, I had a Urdu teacher coming home to teach me. I met Salman Khan who took me in and helped me with my workouts. When I was set, I told dad, 'Ok, let's start shooting. I'm ready.'

"He wanted to fly like Superman when he was a kid"

"Before I started working I had to overcome a lot of mental barriers where my dad was concerned. Because I've always been in awe of him, our relationship is very formal. We are not buddies. I look up to him. I can't pat him on the back and go, 'Yo dad, what's happening?' I can't even dream of doing that.

"I realised I had to break all that when I started shooting. I didn't want to feel awkward when I had to smoke on screen or kiss the girl. It took me a long time to sort myself out. He gave me four months. And that's what I took. I started talking to him like I would talk to my friends. He took it well, he responded positively so things were cool by the time the first shot was taken."

For someone who wanted to fly like Superman when he was a kid, must say Hrithik has come a long way. Like Amod Mehra , trade analyst and family friend puts it, "Ever since he was a kid, Hrithik always had this urge to master everything. Like he assisted his father because he wanted to learn the business of movie making. He's always wanted to be a Jack, no, make that master, of all trades.

"When he was younger, he used to tinker a lot with cars. He was very curious about cars. Then he switched over to medicine. I remember he had decided he wanted to be an actor when he was in school. He started assisting his father when he was in college.

He still talks about one particular incident that made a major difference to his life. This was when he was assisting his dad. He walked into the set to find his father mopping up the floor. He was obviously very shocked that a big producer like his dad was doing such a menial task.

"When he questioned his dad about it, his father told him, "It's my set. If I don't bother about it, who will?" From that day onwards, even Hrithik has adopted the same attitude. He's so helpful and humble. He has no qualms about lifting trolleys or cleaning floors if need be. He's a very well-brought-up, well-behaved boy. It's no wonder he's such a big sensation today."

"I've been signed for the right reasons"

Ask him about the hype that surrounds him and Hrithik shrugs it off. "The kind of guy I am, I'm a very shy introvertish sort. I don't like all this hype. But I accept it because there's nothing I can do about it, I'd prefer it if I was not written about so much. I just want to do my work and go home. I'm not a very social person. But I have accepted that all this is part and parcel of being an actor.

"I'm very happy that people have signed me after watching my film. Vinod Chopra signed me after he saw portions of Kaho Naa. I'm glad that I'm not stuck with proposal makers who have signed me because they think I'll be a huge star. They have seen me act and that's why they've signed me. That's a big boost for me."

"I would give myself 4 out of 10 in Kaho Naa..."

He's humble therefore he is. He surprises you when he discusses his performance in Kaho Naa.. Pyar Hai.

"I would give myself three, no make that four, out of ten in Kaho Naa... I could have done everything better. Believe me, I know that when people come out of the theatre after seeing the film, they're going to say, 'Yaar theek hai. Why are they hyping him so much?' I know this is going to happen because there are too many expectations from me.

"The film is the girl's film. It's not a usual launch pad for a hero. There were times when I've gone up to dad and said, 'Dad, I'm not doing anything in the film. See Bobby's launch. See Akshaye. They all had so much to do in their first film.' Dad just turned around and told me to shut up. He said, 'Look son, I know what I am doing, you can do your triple jumps and kicks in your other films. Let me make this film the way I want to. And I guess that's worked out for the best.".

"Suddenly I've lost faith in goodness"

"I should be on top of the world but I'm not. There was a time when I just felt like giving up everything and quitting the industry. All the hard work, all that dedication that I put into my work has been clouded by that shooting incident. I can't imagine that such a thing could happen to a harmless person like dad. I felt so helpless.

"Someone didn't like my success. It could be someone from the industry. Some of my producers had got calls saying, "Don't take Hrithik." When I realised someone was trying to destroy my career I decided to fight back. I think it's a pure case of jealousy. Earlier, I used to read about things like this happening to others. But now when you see that it has happened to you, you realise it can happen to anybody. Suddenly I've lost faith in goodness, I feel alone. But I have learnt to live with it."

On his first outdoor

My first outdoor was for Mr Vinod Chopra for Mission Kashmir with Preity Zinta and Sunjay Dutt. And I had such an amazing time! Sunju is one of the best human beings I've met in my life and Priety is such good fun. They made me feel completely comfortable.
Mr Chopra is so passionate about his work. He's the kind of director who would get me a double Mac burger in the middle of a desert if I asked for it. He pampers his artistes so much. He's a fab director to work with. I don't know why people call him temperamen-tal, he's not at all like that. If you do your job well, he can be the best guy you can work with.

On his first shot

"It was a long shot, no dialogue. It was a comic shot which involved a lot of timing. It was the scene where I wake up in the morning all cuddled up in a blanket trying to switch off the morning alarm. You can't see my face in that shot. It was just me trying to do this major comic number. Fortunately enough, it was okayed in the very first take. And I was on my way."

On first co-star Amisha Patel

Working with Amisha was just great. For her first film, she's done a fabulous job. She's not come from a film background and still, she was so relaxed. She used to be so good in front of the camera.
I would put in so much effort into my work while she would just come on the sets, give her shot and go home. I used to be like, 'Gawd, how does she do this?' It was great working with her. She's going to go a long way. I'm doing Vikram Bhatt's film with her which is going on the floors soon.