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GULF MADHYAMAM l No1 IN THE GULF l 2012 SEPTEMBER 5 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 60

Hrithik

where looks and talent meet

magine someone with the looks of the Greek God Adonis and the dancing skills of a Gandharva. Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan with his emerald eyes and rippling physique comes pretty close to this mind-boggling aesthetic for most of his die-hard fans. They will, in particular, buttress their opinion by pointing to the fact that he is one among the only five Indian actors to have a wax lookalike in Madame Tussauds museum in London. Born into a family of Bollywood celebritieshis father Rakesh Roshan is a leading filmmaker, maternal grandpa J Om Prakash a producer and uncle Rajesh Roshan a music composerHrithik had his first tryst with cinema as a six-year-old child artist in Aasha in the 1980s. The child with a stammer problem would go on to figure in a few more child roles in films like Aapke Deewane and Bhagwan Dada before his proper debutexactly a decade after his first appearance under the arc lights. Hrithik Roshan played the lead as a handsome young man, or rather two handsome young men as he was cast in a double role, in the blockbuster Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (2000) The Hrithik-Ameesha Patel chemistry in the film (directed by Rakesh Roshan) wowed audiences twice over and a superstar was born. Hrithik, who is nicknamed Duggu, picked up a rare double for his double role performancethe Filmfare Award for Best Male debut and Best Actor. Though his next, Fiza, didnt do anything remarkable at the Box Office, the performance of the leads Hrithik who played a youth misled into terrorism, Karisma and Jaya Bachchanearned positive reviews. A more or less similar role awaited him in Mission Kashmir(2000) but this time the Box Office beast reacted differentlynot only was the film among the top three grossers of the year, but Hrithiks portrayal of an anti-hero who aligns with the murky

agenda of a terror network evoked fulsome praise. The fickleness of fortune would soon kick in and Hrithik experienced the bitterness of failure when he got to star in a series of flops that began with Yaadein (2001) directed by Subash Ghai. The only silver lining for Hrithik during this difficult period between 2001 and 2002 was Karan Johars Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. Hrithik steeled himself to make a comeback the following year with the first of a sci-fi series directed by his father with Koi Mil Gaya (2003), in which he played a man with developmental disability with aplomb. He had to wait for the sequel Krrish (2006) to get the heady taste of success, which has been an unpredictable visitor with a wont to intermittently embrace him tightly or elude him totally. Hrithik is one superstar who has starred opposite Jyothi Varma virtually all leading ladies of Bollywood, including Aishwarya Rai, Katrina Kaif and Bipasha Basu. In a career spanning over two decades, he has bagged, or been nominated for, several Filmfare Best Actor awards. Hrithik has been regarded as a directors actor. Through his chequered career, he has always surpassed himself when given the opportunities to push the envelope of his talents as in Agneepath in the role of an avenger, as Emperor Akbar in Jodha Akbar and Guzaarish in the role of a quadriplegic magicianit is said he even learnt basic magic for this role. Currently, the papa-son duo of Rakesh Roshan and Hrithik Roshan is currently focused on the sequel to Krrish that is likely to hit theatres towards the end of 2013. n

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