Rakesh Roshan was told he’s bald, son Hrithik Roshan will also lose his hair: ‘I said you have hair, tumne kya kar liya?’

Hrithik spoke about his process while approaching a new role and said that once he gets his hair right, he starts getting the character. This brought forth a funny response from his father who said he is thankful that he is not an actor in today’s day and age. Hrithik, addressing the fact that his dad and uncle, composer Raesh Roshan are bald, joked, “Ye baalon ka kissa hamari family mei arson se hai (This discussion over hair has been there in our family for a long time).”
Rakesh also said shared an anecdote when he was asked a mean question by a journalist when Hrithik was just starting out as an actor. “This person came to me and said, ‘Aapke baal nahi hai, aapke bete ke bhi udd jayenge, phir kya karega (You are bald and your son will also lose his hair. What will he do then)?’ I said you have hair, what have you done?” The director than added, “I told him ‘Even if he loses his hair, he will not lose his kismet. Lakerein baalon mei nahi hote, baalon ke neeche hote hai’,” he said pointing to his forehead.

How Hrithik asked dad to make Koi… Mil Gaya

Hrithik said that he formed an instant connect with the idea of Koi… Mil Gaya when his father narrated it to him. “A DNA match was instant. After I heard the story, I realised this was not something anyone else was thinking of. Before someone could say that a Bollywood film with alien won’t work and he gets disheartened, I jumped in and said let’s make this. It was an alien concept. Our films were about families, inside the house… and now you are saying that there will be an alien… who would think like that?” the actor said.

When Rakesh Roshan had doubts about the film

Hrithik Roshan said there was a juncture when his father said such films don’t work and they shouldn’t make it. “Everyone said Hrithik is an action hero, now you want to make him a mentally challenged boy and he has already had three flops, this will be the end of him. His life will be over and this will be the last nail in the coffin of his professional life,” the actor explained. However, all his doubts vanished once they started shooting. “I wasn’t scared once I saw Hrithik during the shooting and the way he approached the role. I was very sure we were making a successful film,” Rakesh said.

“I told all my distributors, ‘See, this is not a usual commercial film, so you will not have a usual morning 9 am show.’ For Karan Arjun, Koyla and Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai, we had 6 am shows in the morning. They used to open the film, and wake me up to tell me that it was houseful. I took it in writing from them that they wouldn’t have early morning shows,” Rakesh explained. However, the distributors went back on their word and released Koi… Mil Gaya at 6 am. They then called Rakesh to inform him that the film was a hit.