Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara marked its 10 years anniversary on Thursday, which prompted Hrithik Roshan to jog down memory lane and recall why he chose to play the role of Arjun Saluja in the hit film.
Hrithik remembered that his father Rakesh Roshan’s friends thought the role wasn’t right for him and that he’s making a big mistake for picking the role. But the actor said he felt the need “to get out of his cocoon and find his 'authentic self.'”
During a candid conversation with a leading daily, Hrithik mentioned the struggles he had to face that stood as obstacles for him in finding his true self. He said:
"I, as Hrithik, identified with living in a box, because I was adhering to the school of thought that was following all the rules and all the things that all books have said… I was very aware that I was doing that, and there was already a thought that was seeded in me much before the film--that I needed to change.”
Hrithik also shared the reservations that his father’s friends held for him but he said he knew what he was doing when he said yes to the producers. He recalled:
“I remember when I signed this film on, a lot of my father’s friends were very concerned about me... They thought I was making a big mistake because I was playing one of the parts among three characters and it was certainly not the central character.”
“[The film] kind of empowered me because it’s a story that I believed in, and I thought, 'to hell with the status', which is merely something that people give you. The work that you do is something that comes out of your own desire,” he added.
