Source: TOI Date: August 5, 2012 As Rakesh Roshan completes 25 years as a director in B-Town, his son Hrithik Roshan has a special surprise in store for him. Even as Duggu plans that special outing with utmost secrecy, TOI asked him to describe this milestone moment. Emotional and ecstatic, the light-eyed actor said, "Dad's strength and wisdom is rare. His knowledge is of course priceless and his will is like iron. He is headstrong, yet the most humble director I know. In a world where it's tough staying successful for 25 months, he's spent 25 years. I wonder how many decades it would have taken for aliens ( Koi Mil Gaya) and superheroes (Krrish) to take birth in Hindi cinema (or if at all they ever would have), if it weren't for dad. For the kind of risks he has taken, the ups and downs he has experienced, his thirst to keep learning, the innumerable times he has fought his way back to the top, the way he has changed with the times, and these 25 years of undying passion for cinema makes him in one word — an Institution! And I am so proud to be his son!" Rewinding to the start, Rakesh recalls how his journey as a director had started when he had literally hit rock bottom. Says he, "Roles as an actor had dried up for me. As a producer I had two flops — Bhagwan Dada and Jaag Utha Insaan. And, I was actually at my wits end thinking this was the end of the road for me. Then God showed me another route... that of a film director. I made Khudgarz (1987). The film was a super hit and from then on, I never looked back.'' "My strength is that I have not dabbled in the same genre twice,'' says he. "From social drama to thriller; from a love story to an alien adventure; then the superhero series, I've tried different things.'' He adds with a laugh, "God hasn't given me a trumpet to blow my top, but he has blessed me with a very sensitive son who I can proudly say is one of the finest, most obedient actors of this generation. Duggu is my biggest strength."