Happy Bday Hrithik Roshan
As Hrithik Roshan turns 40 today (January 10), his father filmmaker and one-time actor Rakesh Roshan turns emotional saying, “My wife and I want Hrithik to be happy and at peace with himself, no matter what.” The father and son are friends says Papa Roshan, “We’re very close. And yes, we’re friends. But there is still that respect in him for me. He can never cross the line. If I enter a room while he is relaxing he will spring to his feet.”Success, says Roshan Sr, has not changed his son over the years. “He is still the same hard-working boy who wraps his omlette in a newspaper and rushes to his shooting in the morning. That kind of dedication is very rare. Any director including me is lucky to have him on board. He is fully with the director. He makes no distinction between working with me and working with an outside director. He is equally involved in both cases.”
The proud father has enjoyed Hrithik’s films outside the family banner, “I liked his performance immensely in Jodha-Akbar, Agneepath, Guzaarish and specially Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara where he had to play a normal regular guy. That’s really difficult to do. He never lets us feel like a superstar was playing that role.”
Getting emotional Rakesh says, “He can work with other directors. But I’d never work with any other actor, unless I am making an out-and-out heroine-oriented film like Khoon Bhari Maang. I might be tempted to make a film with a female protagonist. But only if Hrithik is too busy to work with me. When I was an actor I could feel a filmmaker lurking within me. But I was never satisfied as an actor. I had a big hit like Kaam Chor. But that helped Jaya Prada’s career, not mine. I knew God wanted me to be a director.Now I feel Hrithik who is such a successful actor, far more than I ever could be, has a filmmaker lurking within him. He will hundred percent direct a film some day. Mark my words, he’ll be a very fine director. I am sure of that. He may not be a good producer, but he’ll be a terrific director.”
