Source: Hindustan Times
By: Hiren Kotwani
Date: October 22, 2010
Hrithik Roshan, who has nearly completed work on Zoya Akhtar’s Zindagi Naa Milegi Dobara, will start filming the Agneepath remake for Karan Johar’s company early next year. “It’s a different kind of a subject for me. We’ll start shooting sometime in January,” he says, without commenting on director Siddharth Malhotra preferring him to Abhishek Bachchan to play Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, the character for which Amitabh Bachchan won a Best Actor National Award. For now, Roshan, moving on from the debacle of home production Kites earlier this year, is extremely enthusiastic about his next, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish in which he plays Ethan, a magician who suffers from quadriplegia. The actor believes that interacting with real-life patients made him rethink several aspects of his life. “I spent over six hours chatting with them. They taught me to smile through my problems. They are very spirited people, who believe that come what may, every problem can be solved,” says Roshan adding that the quadriplegics have now become part of his life. “They’re my friends who take care of me and I look after them. After being with them, I’ve stopped complaining about a fan not working and the air conditioner malfunctioning.” Hrithik RoshanGiven that he plays a magician in the film, has he tried performing magic tricks for his sons, Hrehaan and Hridaan? “At four and two, they are too young to understand magic. If I perform a trick, they will think that it’s normal. They may think that they can also do it. They have to get used to a regular life to understand what magic is,” asserts Roshan.
Having portrayed a developmentally challenged character in dad Rakesh’s Koi.. Mil Gaya, the actor says that playing a quadriplegic was both, challenging and easy. “While portraying a man who loses everything at a young age, I had to be responsible and maintain his dignity. I had to get it right,” he asserts. Apart from the Agneepath remake and Guzaarish, there’s also talk about India’s first superhero Krissh, returning in a sequel. “Dad is excited about the story we’re working on now. He’s working hard on it because he doesn’t want the film to rest on the laurels of Krissh,” says Roshan, insisting that his filmmaker father doesn’t believe in simply pitting a villain against the superhero. “Dad is wondering whether the story will be strong enough without the mask, the superhero and the special effects. If he’s convinced, he will go ahead soon,” Does he believe that Shankar’s Robot has raised the benchmark for special effects? “Of course,” says Roshan. “It’s good because it makes us work harder.”