Hrithik is two years younger than me. I don’t remember him as a kid but mom said he was our new baby, so I would be very protective about him and not let anyone near him. As we grew up, we had the worst fights. He would throw away my specs and bully me. It was always emotional blackmail, ‘Didi, if you do this for me, I will do that for you.’ But today the same kid does everything for me so selflessly.
He would never talk to me so much earlier; in fact we became closer ever since he started going out with Suzanne because he would need me to call her to say he was late at the shooting or tell her to pick him up or meet him somewhere. This fostered a friendship in our relationship. Today, we have broken a lot of barriers and there are no more brother-sisters fights. That’s also because of Suzanne. We three are almost the same age and more of friends. I have the loveliest sister-in-law!
The day I got married, he cried his heart out. Later, I was on a very strict diet and one-day I collapsed and had to be hospitalized. He postponed his trip by three weeks just to be with me. I was not much aware but mom told me, ‘Your brother loves you so much, he sat all night in the Pooja room with Suzanne to pray for you.’ He would come and press my hands and legs and tell me to chin up! But he is not a very demonstrative person with his affection. He will do everything for you but he will not say anything.
When I came out of a bad marriage and went through a divorce, that was the time he went out of his way to show how much he loved me. Though younger, Duggu has always been there for me. He is the best brother in the world. Once he was laid up with jaundice and that’s when I realized how much he meant to me. Though he tells me off even now. He was very unhappy about my weight and if I wore something that didn’t suit me, he would say, ‘Didi, don’t wear this, you are fat.’ Then I lost weight and one day I was shy to wear something, he said, ‘Come on didi, you have earned this.’ The best thing he said to me after I lost weight was, ‘You know didi, now there is nothing you can’t do!’ I know he feels very proud when I dress up now that I have shed so much weight.
He is very simple, very forgiving and I can’t imagine there to be a bad side to him. He has got a lot of beatings from dad, especially for not eating his food. He used to be so fussy and I used to eat up his goodies too, while he got the beatings! He is one person not at all affected by success. Between the two of us, I am the one who is an extrovert and he tells me, ‘Didi, I admire you, I can’t make friends like you.’
He is very well read – he even reads medical books! He is very family oriented. Duggu tries his best to give time to Suranika, my 7-yr old daughter. Sometimes he just goes to pick her up from school so he can drive back and talk to her on the way. He is so loving. He is the best son, the perfect husband and the most wonderful brother. He is superb with kids; he will be a fantastic father. Though I can tell you, he will also be with strict with his children. He’s a lot like dad.
Duggu is very focussed. I see him in the gym till midnight and tell him he need not do all that, he is already slim. He tells me, ‘Didi, being slim is okay but I need to be fit also.’ He is what every woman would want her man to be. Forget the looks, he is a beautiful person inside. Sometimes his star status carries us away, but he himself is very down-to-earth.
I discovered Hrithik’s artisti endowment long ago when I asked him to do a child role in Bhagwan Dada. I was telling him how to perform his death scene but he said ‘wait deda (that’s what he calls me) check me out in the scene.’ He did a mind-blowing act and I knew that a brilliant actor was in the making.
During a song sequence in my film Asha, I thought I would shoot one music interlude with Hrithik without his knowledge. The song was to be shot on Jeetendra. Hrithik was on the sets and he liked the interlude music very much and started dancing. I had asked the cameraperson and crew to be ready. I asked Hrithik if he liked the song and he said, ‘yes deda, it is lovely music.’ I replayed the music and he started dancing and we shot it without his knowledge and just when the music got over, the entire studio applauded excitingly. Then the remaining part of the music was to be shot in the same way with Jeetu. After Jeetu’s shot was over he came to me and said, ‘For God’s sake don’t shoot a single more shot in this film with this boy, otherwise the audience will hoot my performance.’ That was a remark that came from Jeetu.
Hrithik was always ahead of his age. When he was five he used to go to the beach for a stroll with me and he made good friends with all my friends who were my age. He was always a very intelligent boy and never used to fuss over anything.
He would come and ask me ‘Deda, why do I have two thumbs on my hand?’ and I would say, ‘because you are special and God has gifted you with special abilities and intelligence.’
Hrithik was a very well mannered boy throughout, but there is one thing about him. He is very stubborn about his likes. Once when we were in London for a show, he saw a bicycle in a TV ad and said he wanted to buy it. We tried to explain that taking the bicycle to India would be a problem, but he did not listen to anyone. He was so adamant to buy it that he just lay down on the Regent Street in London and started bawling that he wanted the bike. It was only when we agreed that he calmed down. He immediately took us to the cycle shop and bought it. He was a very happy boy then. He cycled around for some time, finished trying all the stunts and then sat down innocently worrying about how he will dismantle it and take it to India .
The only college close to our house was Mithibai College so I got his admission there. Just one day before his college started he came to me and said, ‘Deda, I don’t want to go to Mithibai College .’ I asked why? Is anything wrong? He said, ‘ I want to go to Sydneham College . All my friends are going to Sydneham.’ I got so worried that how should I get the admission done there? I did not know anyone in Sydneham College . But thankfully he got admission in his desired college.
Hrithik had the knack of hiding himself. I remember one incident in London when he hid himself in a closet and we were looking for him in the entire place. Everyone was so worried and we were about to ring the police when I found him hiding in an unused closed room. On questioning why he did so, the reply came ‘just for fun.’
The special things that Hrithik has done for me are making his ‘special’ appearances in my films. And more recently he got me a lovely gift. One day he and Suzanne came with this packed gift and asked me to open it. It was a wonderful digital camera. I have this passion for reading and photography, and Hrithik kept my likes in mind. It was really special. Then later when I had to get the pictures printed I was wondering where I should go. But here he was again, with a printer and paper and everything else required. He had ordered that well in advance and knew that it would please me. Duggu is my special grandson and close to me.