‘Hrithik Roshan introduced himself as Rakesh Roshan’s son, a struggler,’ recalls Sonali Kulkarni

Hrithik Roshan introduced himself with his filmmaker father's name but added that he was a 'struggler' when he first met Sonali Kulkarni.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | October 22, 2024 09:58 PM IST

3 min read

Sonali Kulkarni and Hrithik Roshan played foster mother-son in Mission Kashmir.

Hrithik Roshan called himself a “struggler” when he was in the process of getting cast for Mission Kashmir but by the time he started doing the film, he was already a superstar. In a recent interview, Sonali Kulkarni, who worked with Hrithik in the 2000 film by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, recalled her experience of working with Hrithik when he was still new to the film industry. Sonali shared that she was just 25 at the time and did not even realise that she was going to play his foster mother on screen.

In a chat with Siddharth Kannan for his YouTube channel, Sonali was asked if she had any hesitation about playing Hrithik’s mother on screen and the actor said that she was more worried about playing Sanjay Dutt’s wife on screen as she believed that she was too short. “I did not have any turmoil because I always felt that I wanted to act. I wanted to be somebody else,” she said when asked about playing Hrithik’s mother Neelima.

Sonali Kulkarni said that she got a call from Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s office and was told that this was an audition for Sanjay Dutt’s wife, which worried her. “I thought they are not going to cast me because Sanjay Dutt is so tall. In my head, he was 7 ft, thinking about his screen presence. I thought they would reject me,” she said and added, “I didn’t even realise that I am playing Hrithik’s mother.” In the film, Sanjay and Sonali’s characters adopt a young Altaf (played by Hrithik).

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She then recalled meeting Hrithik on her audition day and said, “I met Hrithik on my audition day. He said, ‘Hi, I am Hrithik Roshan, son of Rakesh Roshan. I am a struggler.’ He had just started working on his debut film Kaho Naa Pyar Hai. I said, ‘Hi, I am Sonali Kulkarni, daughter of BG Kulkarni. I am also a struggler’. We wished each other luck.” Hrithik’s father, filmmaker-actor Rakesh Roshan, launched him in Kaho Naa Pyar Hai.

Sonali said that they met after she was selected and said they “cheered” for each other. By then, “Hrithik had become ‘The Hrithik Roshan'” as his debut film had become a massive hit.

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