'I don’t like being the centre of attraction'

Actor Hrithik Roshan says it was a challenge to play Emperor in Jodhaa Akbar and confesses he absolutely loved working with co-star Aishwarya Rai

MUMBAI: He may be playing Emperor in his forthcoming film Jodhaa Akbar, but Hrithik Roshan insists he is anything but ‘Emperor-like’. “I’m basically a shy person, the kind who sits on the side and observes others. I’m not comfortable attracting attention to myself. Which is why playing Emperor, a character who is the centre of attraction all the time, was a huge challenge for me,” says the superstar.

Ask him why then did he choose to do a role so different from the man he is in reality and he explains, “It’s not really a conscious decision to do something which is not me, but it is perhaps my instinct to survive here. I like the fact that these challenges kind of question the fear in you and then you set out finding out if you are really capable of doing it.”

Surprisingly, his ‘fear’ of the role didn’t push him to research the subject. “It’s a myth that I go about doing research for my roles. Once I know the character, it resonates within me. Rather than delving on how Akbar would have been, I tried concentrating on how I would have behaved under such circumstances,” he says.

Tell him that he seems to have a rocking chemistry with Aishwarya Rai, earlier in Dhoom 2 and now in Jodhaa Akbar, and he is quick to say, “I would attribute it to the great friendship that we share and the respect that we have for each other. I would like to think that both of us are selfless actors and the goal for us is to come up with good cinema and not be selfish about one’s own performance. We both believe in that.” 

There’s something else Hrithik strongly believes in. Not flying too high. He says, “It’s my profession which keeps me grounded. The more I see talented people around, I feel I know less and less. Certain celebrities start flying high because they only concentrate on one portion of fame. I strongly believe that when you start flying you only start to look down, but when you are grounded you can only look upwards.”

He continues, “When I see people like say a cancer surgeon,  I feel that they are doing so much more, saving lives. So in comparison what we do seems really insignificant. Also, even what I appear on screen is something that has been projected by a team of talented technical people. It’s very easy to lose sight and fall into the trap if you don’t have the right perspective…”

Apart from his dad’s film Krrazy 4 and Anurag Basu’s next film, Hrithik is also looking forward to baby number 2 as wife Sussanne is due to deliver soon. Of course, more talk on that is left for another interview.

 Talking about Krrazy 4, Hrithik is all praise for Shah Rukh Khan who agreed to do an item number in the film, putting all rumours of their rivalry to rest. Hrithik says, “Shah Rukh agreeing to do this item number shows his graciousness and also the solidarity that he feels for his fellow industry people. Dad and I are extremely grateful to him. Soon after I come back from Singapore (where he’s shooitng for Krrazy 4), we will start shooting for that song.” 

s_shubha@dnaindia.net