Hrithik Roshan reveals his qualities, flaws and more...

Hrithik Roshan is known to be this calm, composed actor — even the Raees vs Kaabil clash left him unfazed. We often wonder what it takes to get Hrithik angry or emotional. Presenting to you a side of the actor one never realised he had...

You are known to be a perfectionist. Has that been the quest from the beginning?

I don’t know what a perfectionist is. I just know that there is a vision in my head about something and I better achieve it, otherwise I will not be extracting my full potential. If I can see it, that means I can do it. Otherwise, I would not get that visual in my mind.

So you have no regrets about whatever you have done or not done?

No regrets. I do not utter those sentences in my life. I just talk about what I can do. I did that. What can I do now? If I want to change something what can I do now? I will get up and act on it. I don’t sit and think on it. Some people may feel I am pushing myself too hard but no I am here to be pushed. I am a human being. I am here to find out what my potential is. That’s what makes me happy. My happiest moments have come after I have pushed myself hard.  

What makes you happy, sad or angry?

The happiest thing that I will feel is watching my kids interpreting life correctly and seeing matured thoughts, which have been seeded, taking shape. Many might feel that they are just kids but Oh! Nobody is a kid. They are very intelligent and absorb more than you and me. That makes me the happiest and gives me unparalleled joy! Nothing makes me sad in day-to-day life. But if I think on more generic terms then what saddens me is the human condition. The fact that we still have not really honed the skills of how life is to be lived. We are still far too unaware and going through life like puppets, not in control.

And angry? We have this nickname for you, St Hrithik as nothing seems to affect you.

I get very angry at stupidity, even my own. If I do something stupid, I get very angry at people who are terribly daft and not able to understand simple instructions or answer questions. That is something I have not been able to overpower. I still get very upset and wonder why people can’t understand a simple instruction. This is regarding work. I get angry when I see mediocrity and am irritable and frustrated with repetition. I hate repeating something. I will never go back to the same place for a vacation or never do the same film again. Repetition is tiring. I need to push from one extreme to the other.

You seem to be a very driven person whereas I get the impression that you are living in your own ivory tower, detached from the rest of the world…

Oh no, no! Detachment is a failure to me. I don’t lose any opportunity to celebrate, jump and dance, and party, — spontaneously take a flight, go to a strange place, explore it, I will go hiking, trekking, go see whales… I will sleep under the stars in the desert with my two boys at night, watch shooting stars, experience the Aurora Borialis in Norway which is my next trip that I have planned. So I am an explorer! I live my life to the fullest. If I am bored in the day and have nothing to do, I will hire a yacht and go into the ocean. I will do crazy things and if I am even more bored, I love imagining things. I pride myself on being outrageous. I am outrageous where variety is concerned. I want my life to be filled with variety! So if I have nothing better to do I will take my boys, sit in an auto and go for a ride. I don’t care if I get recognised and mobbed, but I want to experience that, I want my kids to experience a ride in the auto-rickshaw and I have done it so many times (laughs). We have gone to the beach so many times for a walk and ended up walking with a crowd of 500 people. It’s an experience and I helped them to interpret that in a very powerful way. People need to know so much is available to them.   

Like the visual on your wall where your sons are reaching high and writing ‘Could, Should, Would...’ and cancelling it to ‘Did’… Is that what you tell your sons, too, to follow?

Yes I do. That’s one of the most important things that I have learned as a child so I don’t believe in the sentences like ‘Oh I should have done this’ or ‘I could have done that’ or ‘You know I would have done that but…’

Do you also strive to be the perfect father, son and brother?

No, there is nothing such as perfect. Sometimes you just have to be.

What are your flaws?

I am a little lazy and I need to control myself a bit more where food is concerned. I binge. I am a foodie.

Do you perceive any changes in yourself from the Hrithik of three years ago to the Hrithik of today?

Yes I do. I am a changed person now in many ways…

Do you think you were more self-centred before?

No, being self-centred has never been an issue with me. I have always been outwardly focused, but simply put today, I am far more self-sufficient. Earlier, I was not aware of anything apart from work. I did not have much variety in my life and that it existed. I didn’t know how to build it, but now that’s one thing that I have learned to create. I am a much better creator now and I am not talking about my work, but my life.  

Do you keep track of newspapers and TV?

I watch the news for about 20 minutes in the morning. I don’t read magazines, but the papers, yes.

But we never see you commenting or taking a stand on social media on a social or political issue?

I will only enter a space where I can contribute and not just be a part of the noise. I will not join the bandwagon of making noise as I feel that my time and my energy is very important to me and I am going to use it well.