Spreading a message

Hrithik Roshan surely is a destiny’s child. Throughout his life he has seen obstacles that promised to halt his march ahead. But never for once did he lose spirit. And probably that’s why the divine power too repeatedly helped him – be it overcoming stammering, back pain, knee problems and other such issues.

Image Courtesy: http://www.guzaarishthefilm.com/

Many know that Hrithik used to stammer as a child which he got rid of after endless hours of practice in front of the mirror. But only few know that he had a back problem so severe that he could not even stand all by hiimself. That was before he turned an actor. The doctors had told him clearly that his dreams would remain dreams. But miracles happen… it happened with him at least. The pain subsided one sudden day and he hit the screen like a tornado. That was over a decade back.

The doctor resurfaced in his life again. This time to tell him that he better stop doing action scenes and dance number else he would lose him leg movement completely. Hrithik didn’t lose heart yet. As he struggled around with a crutch to support him he was approached by two filmmakers – Anurag Basu and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. He liked their scripts and agreed to act in the films. Basu made Kites and Bhansali made Guzaarish with him. While Kites released on May 21 this year, Bhansali’s film is readying up for release. As a part of the film’s promotional drive the actor spoke to Fried Eye.

The actor is quite kicked about the film. This is the first time he plays a paraplegic person and also a magician. His character, Ethen, is a magician who suffers from paralysis post an accident. And yet he never loses heart and enjoys every moment of his life till he knows his body organs won’t support any more. “The film is not about mercy killing and neither is it pessimistic. In fact I was slightly upset before reading it but by the time I finished reading the script my spirits were up and high. There is so much to learn about life from the story that I decided that I should do it. This is my way of spreading a very beautiful message about life. My state of mind back then helped me understand the story better,” says the actor. “And to prepare for the role I met people who were paraplegic. And all of them were so positive about life that it amazed me. They taught me a different outlook to life. Today I am not worried about small things in life. They don’t upset me. They taught me to smile through bad times. I learnt to have gratitude in life” he adds.

Playing the role was not easy though. And it was not about putting on a lot of weight and looking different. “The fact that I had to represent them (paraplegic patients) well was a huge a responsibility. It was biggest responsibility I have carried in my entire life!” he says. He had his good times too in preparation for the role. “I had to look unhealthy and gain weight. Hence I dived into a whole lot of junk good. I used to pick up a dozen samosas and while watching movies. I tasted things that I had stopped eating 15 years back as a part of my diet!” he laughs.

Of course he is back to being as fit as ever now – working out hard. And he went on to prove that doctor wrong again. We saw him doing an astonishing dance number in Kites and in Guzaarish, the actor reveals, he will be seen doing one of the toughest dance numbers in his career. “I have never done a spin on one leg. It’s really though and I had to work on it for one whole month. The one dance track Guzaarish is probably the hardest one I have done in my entire life!” he says. And this came right after the doctors around the world told him that he could never dance again. Even as the actor sets out to spread a message through his film, he seems t be doing just that by living his dream too!

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