Source: TOI
Date: May 4, 2006
Rakesh Roshan, Rajesh Roshan and Hrithik - this winning combo is on a hat-trick. After Kaho Na Pyaar Hai and Koi Mil Gaya, their next film Krrish is ready for release, and we get down for a t?te-??-t?te with the filmmaker who is generating quite a lot of interest with the promos of his desi superman flick. We talk to Roshan about his penchant for taking risks and his future plans?
After Kaho Na Pyaar Hain and Koi Mil Gaya, did you feel bogged down by the huge expectations while making Krrish?
“I don’t make films as per people’s expectations. I make films according to my convictions. I just got down to making the film without thinking about expectations. I didn’t compromise on the visuals either. If my script required certain effects, I have gone ahead with the best team and given the picture the best look an Indian film could get.”
Was it difficult coming up with such a drastically different subject?
“It was. When I thought of making Krrish, I was looking for a story where I could show Hrithik as a strong character both physically and mentally - especially since I had shown him as a weak character in Koi Mil Gaya. I wanted something drastically different. His new role had to be poles apart. I wanted to change everything - his physique, his character.”
Why did you cast Priyanka Chopra instead of Preity Zinta this time?
“Since Rohit’s love story had culminated, if I continued with his story, it would be rather boring. So I decided to make the story that of Rohit’s son who has inherited the powers from his father. So it would enable a fresh romance and a fresh look for Hrithik. Hence the change in cast.”
So is Hrithik playing a double role in Krrish?
“No. Rohit, from Koi Mil Gaya and his wife are not there in the film. The son is five years old and their grandmother, Rekha, realizes that her grandchild has inherited powers from his father. She has already lost her son Rohit because the world used him, so she doesn’t want to show the world that her grandchild has inherited strange powers. So she whisks him off to a remote place in the mountains where there is no civilization as such. It so happens that a group of boys and girls come there for mountaineering. And when the young boy grows up he interacts with the outside world for the first time and also meets the heroine. That’s how the story continues.”
Making a Sci-Fi film like Koi Mil Gaya was a risky proposition. Would you say Krrish is an even more risky proposition?
“I feel you are taking a greater risk when you make a routine film. We underestimate our audience. Our audience has grown and we filmmakers have not. People are fed up of seeing the same things over and over again. So we have to match their IQ level. And since they have been exposed to Hollywood films, everything has to be on par with international standards, or better than them. That is what I have tried to do in Krrish.”
Have you put all your eggs in one basket?
“Yes, I have put all my eggs in the same basket.”