Hrithik Roshan recalls dissuading his father from casting Shah Rukh Khan in a film

Actor Hrithik Roshan recalled how he was cast in his debut film ‘Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai’, which was directed by his father Rakesh Roshan. He said that his father ‘offered’ him the lead role in the film despite having told him that he has no interest in launching him.

Speaking with Galatta Plus, Hrithik said, ‘My father told me time and time again, ‘I’m not going to make a film for you, you’re on your own’. So, I was doing screen tests, I did a couple of them, I was looking for work. For my photo session, I had no money. I had promised Daboo Ratnani that I will pay him once I start to earn. All of this was going on, and suddenly, I got this offer. And all I knew was that I had to satisfy my director.’

Hrithik said he went from being just a regular guy to a star ‘in a matter of hours’ and credited his upbringing and innocence as being the reason why the audience accepted him.

When asked why his father agreed to launch him despite being reluctant about it initially, Hrithik theorised and said he might have not have wanted him to work with others.

‘When he heard that I was doing screen tests, and was getting offers, maybe he sat down one day and thought, ‘Yeh kya ho raha hai, am I losing out?,’ Hrithik said.

‘That, and he was making a film at that time with Shah Rukh or Aamir which fell through. And he had another thought, and while he was working on the scripting of that film with all the writers — and I was a part of this process — some weeks into it, everyone started feeling that this film needs a new boy or new girl. You have seen big stars do these roles, and even I was a part of that, that noise. Even I was like, ‘Yes, papa, I don’t want to see Shah Rukh do this’. And, when this got very repetitive, he said, ‘That’s not what I had in mind, I’m taking you in the film’,’ he added.

Hrithik Roshan was last seen in the action-thriller ‘Vikram Vedha’ that underperformed at the box office.

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