‘Guzaarish’ is the most challenging role of my life: Hrithik Roshan

He is one of the most talented actors of Bollywood. With a right combination of acting and dancing skills, his Greek god looks earn him a huge fan base all over the world.

Debonair Hrithik Roshan has always been excellent in style, bearing and talent. In an eloquent chat with Swati Chaturvedi of Spicezee.com on her show Kahiye Janab, Hrithik Roshan turned candid about his role as a quadriplegic in ‘Guzaarish’. Q: Welcome to ‘Kahiye Janab’. Your film ‘Guzaarish’ is soon to be released. What makes the movie special to you? What makes it special that a viewer should go to theatre and watch it? Hrithik: What makes it special? (Smiles) Well. Long story short. I think this film holds a gift, a gift that I received when I started my preparations for this film and when I met a quadriplegic patient, one of my very good friends. If I take care of them, they take care of me as well… Q: You made a very strong point here. You take care of them and they take care of you as well. Hrithik: They take care of me, yes… (smiles) Q: We humans have a very strange attitude. When we do something for someone, then it’s a…. Hrithik: It’s a symbiotic relationship. Because the kind of happiness and smiles they can spread, and the kind of lessons they can teach us about how to live our life, is pretty fantastic. I remember the first time that I met this particular person, after spending some five-six hours with him, as I came out of the room, I realised that for the past six hours, I was just smiling and laughing. And then I reacted that this man is a quadriplegic!! He had the power to make me smile and laugh for six hours. Q: Hrithik, that’s why if we look up to an actor’s life, it seems so artificial to us. Obviously, you act, which by itself is a distorted reality. And then the people all around you, it’s completely a make-believe world. So, is that the reason behind your reaction? Hrithik: No….no. What I want to say is, because they have been through such hardships in life and because they have to deal with so much pain everyday in their lives, they have conquered, they have evolved and they have the power to teach us how to live our life. The advice that I received in those six hours, that is the gift that this film holds and I took it upon myself as a responsibility to portray that dignity, that attitude towards life in this character. Q: This is also a very old saying, “Somebody said my shoes pinch and somebody said look that man has no legs”. Hrithik: Right, right, right. I agree with that but not completely because you can’t live your entire life thinking, let’s think of somebody who is worse off. So, I feel that’s not the lesson they teach. It’s because they are not looking at somebody else, they are smiling themselves. Q: Your eyes light up as you talk. Is that a huge deep connection with them? Hrithik: It has changed my life. It has changed my entire perspective to the world around me. That’s why I say. I think each and every person, even if the person is not a movie-goer, must come and watch this film, because that’s the gift that this film holds. Whosoever you are, whatever are your problems, the moment you step out of the theatre after watching this film, you will smile, no matter who you are, where you are, what your problems are. You will smile at them and say “Come on! I can do this! Life is good!” Q: And what about the make-believe world all around you? How much of reality does the Indian, specially a Hindi film actor really get to get into? Hrithik: Well, if we see, it’s a bit of contradiction because on one side, you are acting out, but, the way my approach to my work is that, I sort of take from my life. So, it is actually coming from a very honest basis. Q: When you do a film, which is about portraying an ordinary person, then how difficult it is to get into the skin of the character? Hrithik: It’s not difficult at all. My role in ‘Guzaarish’, I think is the most challenging role in my life. And at the same time, it is my easiest also. As when you get into the preparations, when you meet these people and spend time with them, then there is such a huge amount of depth in this world, in this role that it becomes very easy for you to absorb. Q: How do you decide to do a film? Hrithik: I remember when Mr Bhansali offered this film to me, I was somewhere prepared in my mind that I will say a “no”. Q: Why? Hrithik: I felt that I was not yet ready to portray his vision. Q: Is it difficult? Everybody says he is very difficult to work with. Hrithik: No, he is not, he is not at all. He is the most loving person. May be, his passion for his work gets misinterpreted as whatever you might call it. But, if you share the same passion as that man, you will see it as a positive thing. So, I didn’t feel that at all. I think it’s a complete myth about Mr Bhansali. He pampers his actors and he’ll do whatever is in his capacity, to make you comfortable and happy. He’ll not give up until he takes out the best in you and that is an actor’s delight. That’s of-course, if you share the same kind of passion. Q: You have worked with your father so much and considerably less outside. Why is that? Hrithik: I don’t think it’s a conscious decision. My father has to make films. So, whenever he is ready with a film that he loves and I love and it has so happened that he chose me as the lead protagonist. Q: Will you feel bad if he chooses some other actor? Hrithik: Absolutely not! Absolutely not! Q: Coming back to your last film, ‘Kites’, you really tried hard. What do you think went wrong? Hrithik: I don’t know! (smiles) I don’t know when something goes right. I don’t know when and why something goes wrong. Q: ‘Guzaarish’ is coming up. What are you planning to do after that? Hrithik: After ‘Guzaarish’, my next film is with Zoya Akhtar. It’s called ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ and after that I’m starting ‘Agneepath’ with Karan. That will start in January. Q: Out of the recently released films, which film do you really like and which actor do you think did a wonderful job? Hrithik: They are all doing so well. I haven’t really had time to see ‘Dabangg’. I haven’t yet seen that film but, I am dying to see it. Because, I believe, Salman has just come out in his elements and done the thing he does best. So, I am waiting to watch that. Adapted by Megha Gupta