Doing action, dancing in 25th film nothing short of a miracle, says Hrithik Roshan

Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan on Saturday said he has overcome many challenges including health problems to reach a stage in his career where he continues to do things that he loves as an actor.

The actor made his acting debut in 2000 with romantic-action film “Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai”, directed by his filmmaker father Rakesh Roshan. Upon the release of the film, Hrithik shot to wide acclaim and was touted as the next Bollywood superstar.

Reminiscing his struggles before becoming an actor, the 48-year-old star said he is proud of his journey in the industry.

Roshan said he had made himself capable enough to do action films and dance sequences, despite health concerns.

“Before ‘Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai’, doctors had told me that my health was not so good that I could do action films and dance. But I took it as a challenge and paid attention to my health and fitness, learnt the work and did a lot of other things,” the actor said at a promotional event of his upcoming film “Vikram Vedha”.

“I am very glad and happy that it is nothing short of a miracle that in my 25th film, I am still doing action, still dancing and being able to say my dialogues. I think the 21 year old me would be very proud of this me today,” he added.

The promotional event was held to launch the song “Alcoholia” from “Vikram Vedha”, a remake of the Tamil hit of the same title.

Roshan thanked his fans and for their unending love and support as well as to the filmmakers who gave him great work opportunities.

“Thank you as nothing is possible without your love and support and nothing is possible without a team like this. I am blessed to be working with directors I trust,” he said.

The actor recalled watching “Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai” at Mumbai’s famous Gaiety theatre in 2000 with his fans, who showered instant love on him after the movie had ended.

“I came here on the first day of the release of ‘Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai’ and watched it with the audience. After the film ended and after the lights were on and everyone saw and recognized me and that’s the first time I experienced the love and excitement and how important that was to me that time. This (‘Vikram Vedha’) is the 25th film and 22 years later I am here,” he added.

Also starring Saif Ali Khan, “Vikram Vedha” is the Hindi version of the 2017 Tamil movie, which starred R Madhavan as a cop and Vijay Sethupathi as a gangster.

Billed as an edge-of-the-seat action crime thriller, the movie is based on the popular Indian folktale “Vikram aur Betal”. It tells the story of a tough police officer (Khan) who sets out to track down and hunt a menacing gangster (Hrithik).

Speaking about the track “Alcoholia”, Hrithik said he had a tough time learning the dance steps.

“It was very hard. There were so many steps in this song that I had to take a break because I was not getting it only. And this Mr perfectionist (choreographer Ganesh Hegde)… There were places where it was not ok with him and I had to keep doing it again and again,” he said.

Filmmaker duo Pushkar and Gayatri, who helmed the original film, have directed the Hindi version as well.

“Vikram Vedha” is presented by Gulshan Kumar, T-Series Films and Reliance Entertainment in association with Friday Filmworks and YNOT Studios. It is produced by S Sashikanth and produced by Bhushan Kumar.

Also starring Radhika Apte, Sharib Hashmi, Rohit Saraf and Satyadeep Mishra among others, the film is scheduled to be released worldwide theatrically on September 30.