| Filmfare.com (original) (raw)

__SHOWQUESTION__You’ve been laid up with a back problem. What happened?
__SHOWANSWER__Anyone who has a back will eventually get a back problem. We have to be aware of our lifestyle. We have to think about the things that matter more – our health. It saddens me when I see advertisements, the way wrong food is sold to our children and to us. We’ve got -conditioned to it, we need to break it. Believe me, if we don’t have good health, we don’t have anything. Millions of people look at me and must be thinking, ‘oh he’s so happy, he’s Hrithik Roshan’. A month and a half ago, I was pretty down. My back was bad; I had a double slip disk. I was smoking, eating rubbish. The work pressure was so much that I couldn’t regroup myself and take charge of my life. I just thought that I deserved to eat whatever and whenever I want because I was working so hard. That was wrong. When you understand what addiction is, you get over it easily; just by using your common sense. So I just made a complete turnaround in my life.

__SHOWQUESTION__How did you find yourself in such a situation?
__SHOWANSWER__We all have our weak links. For me, my back has been my weak link since the longest time. In fact when I was 21, doctors warned me not to become an actor. They said if I jumped and danced, I’d soon be under the knife. I’d probably be on a wheelchair but I fought everything. I did research, met doctors and made fitness my lifestyle. I was careful for the last 10 years. But last year, I sort of over exhausted myself. I usually do one film at time but here I had three. I was doing promotions for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD) and action sequences for Agneepath. It is the toughest action I have ever done in my life. Plus, I was dancing in the reality show Just Dance. I’d be sitting for 14 hours at a stretch judging it. I did this continuously for six months.

__SHOWQUESTION__That’s what gave you the slip disc?
__SHOWANSWER__Yes. I remember I got an off on October 1 last year. I was so exhausted that I slept the whole day. It was the worst thing to happen to my back. I didn’t realise it was so close to snapping, the bed rest just made it worse. The blood circulation stopped. When I woke up next morning, I had a double slip disc. My doctors said it would take 8-10 weeks to heal.

__SHOWQUESTION__That must have felt horrible?
__SHOWANSWER__Yes. Dad had to take a decision whether to start Krrish 2 or not. Whether to postpone or just shelve it. A lot of technicians had been hired from abroad. If he postponed the film, we’d have lost their dates. To regroup all of them would have taken a year again. It was a tough call for dad to postpone the film. After 9-10 days of complete rest, I realised this was a consequence of something wrong I’d done. The truth is that we all know what we’re doing wrong, where we’re going wrong. You can fool yourself for sometime but eventually the truth stares at your face. That’s when you must ask yourself whether you’re brave enough to conquer your weakness or let it conquer you.

__SHOWQUESTION__How did you get out of the rigmarole?
__SHOWANSWER__I woke up one morning and logged on to YouTube. We all have this ego about seeking help. We think how can a book cure us, what is it going to say that I don’t already know. But that is wrong. I kept saying ‘I’m strong, I can do it’. Previously, I’d given up smoking for a few months. And I thought that I can give it up whenever I want. But it doesn’t work like that. Especially when it comes to smoking. You’re always going to get back to it unless you realise what exactly is smoking. So I went onto YouTube. And I eventually ended up seeing Ashton Kutcher, Anthony Hopkins, Madonna and some other celebrities giving testimonials about a book that that cured them completely from smoking. I immediately called for the book, which is titled The Easy Way To Stop Smoking. I took an entire day and shut myself in the room. The moment I finished the last page of that book, smoking was out of my life. And you don’t require willpower for it. All you need to understand is addiction. You can apply it to all kinds of addiction.

__SHOWQUESTION__Really?
__SHOWANSWER__At that time, I had a 36 inches waist and I couldn’t dare to look in the mirror. Imagine I had to play a superhero. I always like to be the character I’m playing. When I was playing Akbar, I knew I couldn’t command 10,000 people with my voice. So I started giving more interviews, talking to people more. Whenever I got the chance, I’d go on stage and speak to people. Other actors may not do it but it works for me. I told myself that this is a sign. I have to be a superhero soon. When you think of a superhero, you think of purity. You think of strength and brightness. You think of energy. A superhero won’t have bags under his eyes. He won’t put toxins in his body. He won’t let smoking conquer him. He will not let a back problem conquer him. I did another hunt on the net. The hunt for the people to get me in the best shape in the quickest possible time. I found this couple, Chris Getthins and his wife Marika. They are not only nutritionists but also bodybuilders. I called them from UK and put them up here. I’m on my sixth week now and I have lost five and a half inches on my waist and eight and a half kilos overall. I’m gaining muscle at the same time. My back is feeling better. I can jump, I can dance. I haven’t smoked for two months. And I’m feeling good.

__SHOWQUESTION__Coming to Agneepath. It’s the first out and out action film laced with bloodshed and violence. How was the experience?
__SHOWANSWER__Agneepath is the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life. I thought Jodhaa Akbar was the limit because of the armour and the sword fighting involved. But I was wrong. I didn’t know what Agneepath had in store for me. I’ve never been so tired in my life. I have exhausted my body completely. We had the most gruelling film schedule in Diu and even in Mumbai. It’s a hardcore film.

__SHOWQUESTION__What prompted you to do it?
__SHOWANSWER__I got attracted to Karan Malhotra’s mind, vision and sensibilities. I noticed him when he was assisting Ashutosh Gowariker on the sets of Jodhaa Akbar. Throughout the making of the film I didn’t know him much. I just knew he was one of the important assistants. Whenever Ashutosh had to discuss something, he’d discuss with Karan. It never really occurred to me that there may be potential here. Then I started dubbing for the film. And he was one of the assistants who used to sit in the dubbing room to help me with the lines and all. When I dubbed the first dialogue, he asked, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘Why are you talking like this?’ And I was like ‘Talking like what?’ This is how I talk and he said okay and kept quiet. But it bothered me. Because there was honesty, sincerity and courage in his voice. The guts to voice his opinions. On the second day, I asked him why he’d asked me that. He explained his points. He told me how he thought Akbar should speak. I completely rejected it. I said it’s a Hindi film and I know how to do it. But something kept bothering me. He was asking me to take the harder route and I was just playing safe. I dubbed the entire film. It took a month. When I saw the final cut, it was staring at me. What he said was right. I redubbed the entire film. That was my first association with him.

__SHOWQUESTION__Do you fear comparisons to Amitabh Bachchan?
__SHOWANSWER__That fear will be demolished within the first five seconds of the film. You will understand that there is no way this Vijay can be compared to that Vijay Dinanath Chauhan. Because I am not playing him. I’m just playing a normal Vijay. I don’t have style and swagger. This Vijay just wants one thing, revenge. The image will be broken in a second. And that’s the strength of the film.

__SHOWQUESTION__Judging by the promos, there have been more reactions for Sanjay Dutt. Be his looks, his dialogue; do you fear being sidelined?
__SHOWANSWER__Not at all. The idea of the film is to sell the impossibility of David vs Goliath. You are building up a Goliath and then there is this normal guy who is facing him. That’s what entertainment is. Show an impossibility and make it happen.

__SHOWQUESTION__Do I see a shift in you as an actor? You’re not playing larger-than-life characters. In ZNMD too you didn’t mind Farhan stealing the show.
__SHOWANSWER__Most actors think of playing heroes. I don’t. I buy characters. I get sold on their journey. If he ends up looking like a hero, great! I don’t see them as heroes. I see them as normal people with important journeys. I am Hrithik. That’s my character. When they say you were God in the film I know they are talking about the character, I played. When I walk the streets, I don’t have a swagger.

__SHOWQUESTION__Were you insecure about letting Farhan Akhtar (ZNMD) walk away with the movie?
__SHOWANSWER__Did I look insecure in the film?

__SHOWQUESTION__No.
__SHOWANSWER__I was secure in ZNMD. You cannot fake in front of the camera. I work with minds who know more than me. These are the access points for me to grow. I don’t want to wear the crown. I don’t want to be the king. I want to wear the crown when I am dead. Till then I want to continue growing. I am a WIP – Work in progress. For my entire life. Indefinable and unstoppable. RA.One and Don 2 have really upped the level of Indian cinema, in terms of style and technology.