MOMENT! Hrithik Roshan MAN OF THE

HRITHIK ROSHAN REVEALS WHY HE DOESN’T CRAVE TO BE A PERFECTIONIST IN THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH AAKANKSHA NAVAL-SHETYE

HRITHIK ROSHAN – THE NAME IS SYNONYMOUS WITH CLASS, PERFECTION, STUNNING GREEK GOD LOOKS AND A DEDICATED, SINCERE APPROACH TO HIS PASSION FOR ACTING! AND WHILE AS AN ACTOR HE’S BEEN CONSISTENT WITH ALL OF THE ABOVE RIGHT FROM HIS DEBUT MORE THAN TWO DECADES AGO, HE HAS ONLY HONED HIS ART AND CRAFT FURTHER… EVOLVING PROFESSIONALLY AND ON THE PERSONAL FRONT TOO. HAVING PROVEN HIS ACTING METTLE TIME AND AGAIN, HE MOST RECENTLY WOWED US ALL YET AGAIN WITH HIS STUPENDOUS, POWER-PACKED PERFORMANCE IN VIKRAM VEDHA. WE CAUGHT UP WITH THE SUPERSTAR IN DUBAI WHEN HE HAD SPECIALLY FLOWN IN FOR THE EXCLUSIVE LAUNCH AND UNVEILING OF RADO’S NEW CAPTAIN COOK HIGH-TECH CERAMIC HRITHIK ROSHAN SPECIAL EDITION IN TWO KEY BOUTIQUE LOCATIONS. HAVING BEEN A BRAND AMBASSADOR OF THE RENOWNED INTERNATIONAL BRAND FOR CLOSE TO 12 YEARS NOW, THIS WATCH IS SPECIAL, BUT EQUALLY SPECIAL IS HIS VISIT TO DUBAI, A CITY THAT HE ABSOLUTELY LOVES, HE TELLS ME IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW. AND AS WE CHAT ABOUT HIS JOURNEY IN BOLLYWOOD, THE STAR REVEALS WHERE HE DRAWS HIS STRENGTH FROM AND ALSO SHARES HIS BIGGEST MOTIVATION. PART WITTY, PART FUNNY, BUT ALWAYS CHARMING, IT’S HRITHIK AT HIS CANDID BEST! EXCERPTS

How’s it coming to Dubai?

It’s always amazing. It’s a great city.

You are always known to be such a perfectionist…

No, not at all. It’s a little bit of a story though. I’m not that much of a perfectionist. I’m alright! I think I have evolved beyond it and understood that trying to be perfect is not very healthy, it’s not required. It’s good to have the wrongs and imperfections and let go. I tested that with Vedha and it worked.

So your ‘not chasing perfection’ is not to be confused with you giving your 120 percent?

I think part of giving that 120 percent is to let go of control. So that’s the bigger challenge, you control, control, control… and then you realise okay that’s getting me only this far, how do I grow beyond this now and you let go of that control and see the creation that happens after that, which is the practice now.

After a certain time, you find your own groove, find that space where Fridays don’t matter as much and its more about you doing the kind of work you want to put out there? I hope to get there (laughs)!

Hope to get there? You are there already and rocking it, now you’re only creating a legacy! I hope so. Only a few things deserve that perfection, like Rado. That can be perfect! As humans, as human beings, we have to accept the flaws, be broken and that’s the beauty. Products can be perfect, like Rado is.

Are you very brand conscious? Tell us about your association with Rado, you’ve been the brand ambassador for close to 12 years now… Well… it’s a responsibility. It’s something that I don’t take lightly at all. I need to like what I endorse. I need to love what I endorse. I need to love the philosophy behind it, what it stands for. Which is why with Rado, it’s a no brainer for me. I’ve been inspired by Rado ever since I was a kid because my father used to wear Rado. And it looked so amazing on his wrist. I hoped to grow up and have a wrist like that with a watch like that. I didn’t get the wrist, but I did get the watch (laughs).

What does brand Hrithik Roshan mean globally for you?

I have no idea; I don’t think about that! That’s kind of something that I don’t live in that space –thinking what am I as a brand, what is my brand!

So what does having a Hrithik on a wrist mean?

For me it’s Rado on my wrist and Rado has a little bit of me in it. Which is the collaboration that I am proud of. Which makes me happy. Which makes me feel a little strong, I feel a strength in that.

Where do you draw your strength from?

My strength comes from life. The uncertainty of it. And the fact that we really don’t know what we’re doing. All that fear and uncertainty inspires me to do my best in search of the answers.

Hrithik Roshan… and fear?

Fear is a good driver. It’s a good motivator.

How do you look back at your journey in Bollywood?

It has been amazing.

More than two decades now!

I have taken whatever was given to me and given my best to it and I have been given a lot of love and it’s taught me a lot of gratitude. And I don’t take things for granted. It’s taught me how to be humble. It’s taken me to the peaks and it’s shown me what ego is like as well. So, I have seen a lot of things and I’m grateful to all the people who’ve showered me with so much love and keep me inspired.

You know, so many adjectives come to mind when you say Hrithik. You’re one of the best-looking actors globally, you’re classy, a perfectionist... But how do you describe yourself?

I’m pretty boring like that. I’m a student. That’s that. That’s what I would say.

When you look back at your journey, what is the one thing that you would say has kind of got you here and is a lesson that you’ve imbibed for life? My curiosity. I think I’m a curious person. I’m very curious. You know, when someone says hard work is equal to success, be curious. Like, oh really? I’m going to try. My curiosity makes everything into a game. And I then enjoy, I have fun with it. So no matter how hard it gets, no matter how hard the struggle is, the curiosity turns it into a game. Like okay difficulty is here now, let’s be curious. If I do this at this stage, what’ll happen and I learn. So, I’m very curious to learn. I have a wonder for things which I think has given me and motivated me and got me here.