Source: Wall Street Journal Anupama Chopra's Blog
On ‘The Front Row’ this week, film critic Anupama Chopra talked to Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik Roshan about playing a superhero in India, how he and his director-producer father are still learning and why it’s important he knows his own weaknesses.
Edited excerpts: Anupama Chopra: Hrithik, what is the unique struggle of being an Indian superhero? Of course, we don’t have the budgets or the technology that Hollywood does. But what are the other challenges? Is it also difficult because our superhero films have to be musicals?
Hrithik Roshan: There are innumerable challenges faced when we were starting off with “Krrish 3.” First of all, he is a superhero who has to be Indian, so the film has to be shot in India. You can’t have all the action indoors so you have to shoot outdoors. How do you shoot outdoors in India? It is just not possible because you can’t control the crowds. Then came the budget restraints. So we had all those challenges. It was not a good business decision according to my Dad [producer, director and former Bollywood actor, Rakesh Roshan.] Cinema, for me, is more of a contribution. This is what we do to find little piece of immortality, I guess, in some way it’s a responsibility. If we don’t do it, then who will?
Anupama: I interviewed Henry Cavill for “Superman” and he said it’s an incredible feeling to put the suit on. He said the suit holds an energy all of its own and people treated him differently when he wore it. What was it like that for you when you put the suit on?
Mr. Roshan: Absolutely. I was told by the doctors that I should not be doing this film. I should not be doing any action anymore in my life in fact because I had certain problems. But of course, I put myself back together and every single time I remember on the sets, if I had any kind of pain or any kind of issues, mental struggle or pressure; the moment I zipped up, things just changed. I felt unstoppable. I felt unbreakable.
Anupama: How has your working relationship with your father evolved over the trilogy? Are you still a student or are you now a collaborator who has an equally strong voice?
Mr. Roshan: Well, I think the best part is that we are both students. My father is constantly learning, constantly evolving. He works without any ego. In fact, he has no issues in calling my friends over and discussing his screenplay with them. Friends like Farhan Akhtar and Aditya Chopra, they often come and hear his screenplay and he is takes feedback from them. He is always looking for growth and of course whatever I have learnt, I have learnt from him.
Anupama: You call yourself a peaceful warrior – what does that mean?
Mr. Roshan: I often associate with those two words. I am a peaceful guy. I don’t let my rules get violated. If something needs to be set right, and then I will go ahead and set it right, whether it’s people or whether it’s injustice. I don’t believe in assuming things where people say something and you assume it was said in such a tone that you pick a fight. I left all that back in school. It seems very childish to me because there is no need for that. Life is about going towards happiness. There’s always stress. We all going through stress as it is, why add to it?
Anupama: George Clooney said in an interview that when you’re famous and successful, there are very few people to tell you that you are an idiot. Do you have people around you who can tell you that?
Mr. Roshan: I want to say yes. But now that I think of it, nobody has told me that I have been an idiot. Maybe I have just never been an idiot [smiles.] I want to believe that I have people around me in my life who will tell me the truth of how things are and I will always look for that because I believe those are the only ways through which you can grow, through positive feedback, through criticism which you have to understand is just a point of view and it doesn’t hurt. Find out for yourself whether it works for you or doesn’t.
Anupama: You describe yourself as a WIP – a work in progress. So how does a superhero try to better himself?
Mr. Roshan: A superhero is all about his super weaknesses. If you see every superhero, there is a Peter Parker for every Spiderman, there is a Clark Kent for every Superman and the list goes on. Being associated so closely with a superhero propels me even more now to find out what my true potential is. I sat down and listed out all the things that I would want to go through in this journey. All the things that are happening in my life, I have decided that I want to go through this because I want to see if I can overcome them or not. So then it becomes a game and I am enjoying the process. If I am down or going through some kind of a struggle, I just have to look at two things. One is, what would a superhero do, and the other thing is how am I going to make this an example for my kids?