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May 25, 2010

"I have always tried to push the boundaries and that is why we made Kites." - Hrithik

Kites will not soar but Hrithik Roshan continues to fly high.


Hrithik Roshan defended his latest release Kites during his Calcutta trip on Monday. He didn’t sound too happy with the reviews in India but he did agree to take a few questions inside Auditorium 2 at INOX (City Centre Salt Lake). He also answered a couple of questions only for t2.

Do you think you have failed your audience?
Because of my past success, people are coming to watch Kites with strings attached. I am an artiste. I have to explore. I have to do different things. Some people asked me whether I would go back to doing typical films. What they are actually saying is that Kites is not a typical film, which is a good sign. Some will resist change, some will accept change. We are all proud of the film.

Did too much hype kill Kites? Especially because you are coming after two years...
I don’t know why people are making me feel that I have been away for ages. It’s been two years but it’s not taken two years to make Kites. People are under the impression that I have been into Kites for the last two years. But no, I have made two films during this time period and I have also recovered from six months of very tortuous pain from my knee injury. I couldn’t walk and I couldn’t do a lot of things. That’s where my time has gone and in spite of that I have done Kites and Guzaarish (Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film opposite Aishwarya Rai). And that should come out very soon, in two-four months. So there won’t be that long a gap after Kites.

In hindsight should you have played safe and gone for a more massy film?
When I did Koi… Mil Gaya with my father, everyone said that it will go against your action image. How can you play a mentally challenged person when three of your films haven’t worked? But I did it at that time. Then they said that a superhero film with mask and cape will not work in India. That worked. I have always tried to push the boundaries and that is why we made Kites.

Compared to other superstars you are elusive. Is that a conscious strategy?
I think every individual needs to be his own person and you have to find the person you are. I might be a bit more shy than the other stars. That’s all. I don’t feel the need to be in the news for no apparent reason, for no logical reason. Just to push the image of a superstar, which I don’t consider myself to be and I don’t identify with one.

What was it like working with Barbara Mori?
Working with Barbara was absolutely fabulous. She is such an honest actor, so true to herself and so dedicated and passionate. She gave us the right impetus and the right push so that we could attempt something as honest as Kites. The film wouldn’t have been possible without her.

Did you help her adjust to the Bollywood scheme of things?
I helped Barbara whichever way I could. We were playing hosts and we were all welcoming her to our country and showing her the way India can love. That is why I am a little sad about the way the press has written wrong stories about her. But again it’s about individuals and not everyone.

Why did you get mad at the media at Shirdi?
It was not the media. One shouldn’t generalise. It was about five people who went beyond any reasoning. I tried my best to reason with them. See, we shut our eyes when we pray. Why do we do that? Because we want to put a stop to the world and just connect with god. I wanted my wife and my mother to get that privacy. So I requested that please don’t enter the shrine… you have been following us for half an hour and that’s okay but please don’t enter the shrine. Give us 35 seconds and then we will come outside and I will talk to you. But they didn’t listen to me. What do you do?

You also turned playback singer with Kites? How did that go?
I am very scared to say this but I enjoyed singing a lot. Of course, I am not a professional singer and neither is my character. What Anurag had said to me made sense to me. He said it didn’t matter if you sang it well or you didn’t, it was about being honest to the moment. About keeping it real. Even if you sing badly, it would look sweet. The whole attempt of the film was to keep it real.