Mumbai: The present day heartthrob of Bollywood, Hrithik Roshan, launched himself with the film Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai in 2000. The success of the film promoted him to fame immediately, and his dances and songs became the fervor of the city. But few people are aware of it that before entering into the industry Hrithik used to say his occupation as ‘struggling actor’ even though he belongs to the filmy background.
One shocking story that was narrated by Sonali Kulkarni of Mission Kashmir fame actually has Hrithik referring to himself in the first person, in the first meeting that the two had.
From your IDs, someone cool said “Hi, I’m Hrithik, and I’m a Struggler!”
Even before Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai made him the toast of the box-office, Hrithik was getting ready to shoot Mission Kashmir in which Sonali Kulkarni appears as his foster mother. Talking to Siddharth Kannan in the recent interview, Sonali described her meeting with Hrithik during the shooting. Until at that time, Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai was not out yet.
The first impression Hrithik created about himself was that he was Rakesh Roshan’s son and struggling actor. This left me awe-struck because, with such a background in film making, one really feels they do not have to fight for anything,” added Sonali. His father Rakesh Roshan is an actor and director of repute and his Uncle Rajesh Roshan is a music director.
How Did They First Meet?
Sonali reminisced about their initial interaction: He saw Hrithik on the fateful day when I went to audition for Mission Kashmir.” One day, he approached me identified himself by his name Hrithik Roshan, the son of Rakesh Roshan and he was one of the strugglers. I said, confident as ever, ‘Hello there sir, my name is Sonali Kulkarni and I am B.G Kulkarni’s daughter and I am a struggler.’ I found the initial interaction of the story as such profound because it was very basic yet powerful.
At the time Hrithik had just started shooting for his first film Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai and had not yet tipped over into full-blown stardom which loomed just around the corner.
Sonali Played Hrithik’s Mother at Age 25
In Mission Kashmir, although the actress was only 25 years old, she played Hrithik’s supposed foster mother and Sanjay Dutt’s wife. Asked whether it annoyed her playing a mother’s role at such age, she replied, ‘I never thought it was a problem because I was just acting. The only botheration that I felt was that I was much taller than Sanjay Dutt.”
Surprisingly, even Sonali said that at the initial time she did not know that she would be playing Hrithik Roshan’s mother in the movie.
From ‘Struggler’ to Superstar
Coming to today’s generation, Hrithik Roshan is one of the most appraised actors in Bollywood but it is very difficult to imagine that man who had given several blockbuster like Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai used to think that he was struggling. For me as a reader, it is fascinating to see how he has progressed from these early introductions to being a celebrity. Now the fans have a possibility to peek at how this actor started his career, so his becoming a star even more marvelous.