YEAR 2K - SUPER DUPER BLOCKBUSTER STAR
A spanking new century had dawned and brought with it a spanking new star. Hritik Roshan. Almost out of the blue, this son of Rakesh Roshan's came up as the hero of the new movie Kaho na.. Pyaar Hai. This light eyed boy with a pumped up body caught the fancy of the nation like never before. His movie ran for weeks and weeks and to full houses. Girls bought tickets in huge groups and screamed every time Hritik appeared on screen. One viewing of this handsome boy was not enough and they saw the movie again and again. Hritik Roshan has seen the kind of fan following rarely experienced by some of the biggest stars. At one time, he was to visit an event. It is rumoured that the police swung into action and prepared for it as if the Prime Minister himself was attending. Such was the mass hysteria that greeted the appearence of the star. Any magazine that appeared on the bookstalls with even a thumbnail of Hritik was sold out instantly. Hritik chose to sit out the hysteria and refused interviews and television appearences. To compound matters, his father was nearly shot dead by the Mumbai mafia in an extortion bid. It was definately the best of times and the worst of times for Hritik.
Star sons and daughters are aplenty. Our films industry is a 100 years old and the film fraternity has multiplied successfully, so we have Rishi Kapoor, Karishma Kapoor, Raveena Tandon, Aamir Khan, Farhan Akhtar, Fardeen Khan, Twinkle Khanna, Akshaye Khanna, Zayed Khan, Abhishek Bachchan and more opting for the film line after their parents. Actually, even Raj Kapoor was a star son, though his times were different. During the 90s parents took to launching their children lavishly and with style. If they were not launched in home productions, they were given the benefits of the contacts of their parents. But the success of a film star depends not on the parentage, but the measure of acceptance they get from the viewers. Hence, many star kids fell by the wayside and had to be practically puppetstringed to moderate success
Hritik was one dude who was fully grounded and aware that he would have to work hard for success. Acting lessons with Roshan Taneja were mandatory of course. But Hritik took one look at his lean frame and knew what else needed to be done. He took advice from Salman Khan on body building, worked out, drank protein shakes and built an impressive body. He taped himself constantly to be able to be comfortable in front of the camera. Luckily, he was a natural dancer, but still he went over with choreographer Farah Khan to work out the kinds of moves he could best do.
The stupendous result was there for all to see. There was no touch of the rookie in Hritik's debut, he emoted, danced and sang like a Pro. No matter what Hritik does next, Kaho Na .. Pyaar Hai will remain a kind of a benchmark that he himself will find hard to outdo. No other song/dance he has done has come close to the charisma of 'Ek Pal ka jeena'.
NEXT CHANGE - HRITIK ON THE BLOCK
With such expectations riding on him Fiza got a grand opening. A good movie, but it disappointed his fans tremendously. Despite that, his songs were aired all the time on TV channels all the time and fans wanted more. Mission Kashmir was a very good film and Sanjay Dutt quite outdid Hritik, but then, he was a senior actor and Hritik was still a newbie. The movie was successful, but again, Kaho Na Pyaar Hai was hard to replicate.
Subhash Ghai's Yadein had all the trappings of success, Hritik and Kareena Kapoor on the cast, several big stars as supporting actors, an emotional story guaranteed to pull at the heartstrings of the viewers. The trendy touch of setting the movie in London and India to pull in the NRI audience. But the movie was slow (booooring) and flopped badly. Poor Hritik had to take the flak for it. His next, KJo's Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham had a dream starcast. Shahrukh, Hritik, Amitabh and Kajol, Kareena and Jaya. The family saga had all the requisite song and drama and was well made. It was a big success. The Hritik and Kareena jodi looked fresh and hep.
A STRING OF FLOPS -- NOOOOOOOOO
Hritik would surely like to rub out 2002 and the movies it brought. The viewers gave a consistent thumbs down to all his movies that year. Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage with his debut heroine Amisha, Na Tum Jaano Na Hum with Esha Deol, Mujhse Dosti Karoge! with Rani Mukherjee and Kareena Kapoor. The movies flopped badly and the tidal wave of Hritik Mania subsided. Girls took down the posters from the hostel walls and no longer bought magazines just to take a dekko at Hritik.
Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon was from the Rajshree stables. It had Abhishek, Kareena and Hritik, most importantly it had Sooraj Barjatya. Sooraj had a good run with HAHK recently. So this one was touted as a winner. Maybe overconfidence brought the things down. The movie irritated the viewers and it bombed. Poor Hritik nearly sank with it. Pundits were putting stamps of finis on him. To make matters worse, his acting in the last few movies was awful.
HARD TO KEEP A GOOD MAN DOWN
With a charismatic movie maker like Daddy Rakesh Roshan, things were bound to look up soon. Papa Roshan was there with his next sci fi offering, Koi .. Mil Gaya. The K factor worked for father and son. The movie was a heartwarming tale of an alien that lands on earth and befriends a mentally retarded boy and cures him. Hritik Roshan put in an amazing performance as the retarded Rohit. It was Jadoo time. Jadoo and Rohit joined hands with the bubbly Preity and wroght box office magic. If Hritik had lost his female fans, he won over the juvenile population. Little boys and girls were talking about Rohit and Jadoo and watching the movie repeatedly. KMG was the biggest success of 2003.
Lakshya was the tale of an aimless youngster who joins the Army for a lark. But a round scolding from his girlfriend makes him determined to succeed and he takes his chosen path seriously and manages win a crucial battle for his country. It was based on the conquest of the Tiger Hill in the Kargil War. The movie was directed by Farhan Akhtar and was a critical success, if only a moderate commercial success. More importantly, coming fresh on the heels of KMG, his performance won accolades. He played the wastral Karan Shergill who cares only to lounge around and waste time perfectly. In the later half, with a fauji cut and a serious focussed young army officer, again, he was brilliant.
A BREATHER AND WHAM!
Hritik dropped out the movie circuit for a couple of years and worked on the sequel of KMG. This time he played the son of Rohit Mehra who is endowed with superpowers thanks to the gift of Jadoo. This guy scaled moutains, ran faster than wind and was as strong as a superman. He wore a trench coat that swirled like a cape and a mask. Lo! Here was our own Superman. Rakesh Roshan's magic touch and his super son made Krrish the biggest grosser of 2006. Hritik had learned to choose his films with care. He was back as the most promising new actor that we have.
There were accusations that Hritik could do well only in Papa Roshan's films, but Dhoom 2 disproved them. Sanjay Gadhvi directed this Yash Raj venture. Dhoom was already a huge success and this was seen as a successful franchise. Dhoom 2 began with a dance by Hritik as only Hritik can dance. 'Dhoom again' showed the viewers who was the boss here right from the first scene. Hritik took centrestage as the invincible thief, and master shapeshifter Aryan. He was the best thing in this otherwise stilted movie. He starred alongside Aishwarya and even shared a screen kiss with her. Dhoom 2 was again one of the higest grossers of 2006. This gave Hritik the unbeatable edge of two blockbusters in a single year.
AHOY - STARDOM AHEAD
2007 has Jodha Akbar in offing. This is a highly awaited movie directed by Ashutosh Gowrikar of Lagaan and Swades fame. Here Aishwarya co-stars with Hritik. He is working on Krrish 2 and the Zoya Akhtar venture. He is also doing Farhan Akhtar's next movie. Girls are putting his posters up on the wall again.
Kaho na ... intezaar hai.
GOSSSSSIP
Hritik fell in love with Suzzane in the exact same way as shown in Kaho Na.. Pyar Hai. He stopped at the red lights and spotted a beautiful girl in the car next to his. He asked a friend about her, and found that she had been asking about him too. They started dating and married when KNPH was declared a huge hit. Because of the immense popularity of Hritik, the venue and date of his marriage were kept a secret and only a few close friends attended.
After Shahrukh, he is an actor who is a faithful husband. That must be a big relief to Suzzanne. They have been going strong, and Hritik is totally besotted with his son Hrehaan.
The Aish kiss in Dhoom 2 was supposed to have angered the Bachchans. Suzzanne however, was supporting.
Hritik has gotten into a couple of controversies. Once he enraged Nepalis by making disparaging remarks about them. Next, he said something similar about the Singaporeans " I think it is time to get out of Singapore now, I am begining to feel chinky eyed". He had to apologise on both
occasions.<
FILMOGRAPHY