Hrithik Roshan suffers muscle injury, shares note on 'real strength': 'Virtue has been stretched so far'

Hrithik Roshan has injured himself. The Bollywood heartthrob, who most recently featured in 'Fighter', suffered from a muscle pull. Hrithik has now shared a photo where he can be seen standing with the help of crutches. Along with it, the actor also poured his heart out on a lengthy note, sharing his thoughts on what real strength is and how men are conditioned to put a strong image on display. To discuss the societal conditioning of men to hide their vulnerability, the actor also narrated a personal incident involving his grandfather.

Hrithik Roshan reflects on the concept of masculinity

On Wednesday, Hrithik took to his Instagram account to share that he had suffered a muscle pull. The actor shared a mirror selfie where he can be seen standing with the support of crutches. Hrithik wrote, "Good afternoon. How many of you out there ever needed to be on crutches or a wheelchair, and how did that make you feel? (sic)."

The actor then narrated a personal story and revealed, "I remember my grandfather refusing to sit on a wheelchair at the airport because it wouldn’t align with his own mental image of himself as "strong." I remember saying, “But Deda, it's just an injury and nothing to do with how old you are! It will help heal the injury and not damage it further.” It made me so sad to see how strong he needed to be just to hide the fear and embarrassment on the inside. I couldn’t make sense of it. It made me feel helpless. I argued that the age factor is not applicable because he needs a wheelchair for an injury, not his old age. He refused and kept the strong image on display for strangers (who literally didn’t care). It worsened his pain and delayed the healing."

He asserted, "But if you say soldiers never need crutches, and even when they medically do, they must refuse, just for the sake of keeping the illusion of strength intact, then I just think that the virtue has been stretched so far that it borders on plain stupidity. I believe true strength is being relaxed, composed, and fully aware that nothing—not crutches, not a wheelchair, not any inability or vulnerability—and certainly not any sitting position can lessen or alter the image of that giant that you are on the inside."

He added, "Strength is not always being Rambo against all odds with a machine gun saying “f**k em!” That’s applicable, sure. Sometimes. And it’s the kind we all aspire for. Even me. But the more coveted one is strength when there is no one to fight on the outside. It’s that quiet fight on the inside between you and the “image” of you. If you come out of that one feeling like wanting to do a slow dance by yourself, then you’re my hero."

Finally talking about his injury, the actor mentioned, "Anyways, I pulled a muscle yesterday and woke up wanting to reach out about this notion of strength. This is, of course, a bigger conversation; the crutches are just a metaphor. If you get it, you get it."

What's next for Hrithik?

On the work front, Hrithik will next be seen in 'War 2,' also starring Jr. NTR and Kiara Advani. The actor also has 'Krrish 4' in his pipeline.

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