Shah Rukh Khan calling comparison with Hrithik Roshan ‘shameless’, Rakesh Roshan getting shot: Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai at 25

The debut of Hrithik Roshan was unlike anything anyone had ever seen. Many star kids had gotten a big launch in the early 2000s but no one shot to the stratosphere of stardom with their first film. It’s hard to imagine anyone over 25 not knowing the dance steps to ‘Ek Pal Ka Jeena’ or the euphoria around Hrithik as he made the theatre feel like a concert arena in those first showings of Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, especially during that stage performance towards the end of the film. This wasn’t just an actor, he was a star from the get-go.

Hrithik Roshan with Rakesh Roshan on the set of Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. (Photo: Express Archives)

Even back then, there were a few star kids who had a laid-back attitude when it came to joining the family business. Fardeen Khan recently admitted that he should have taken the craft more seriously when he made his debut. Akshaye Khanna didn’t even do a screen test and had directors queuing up outside his house because his father Vinod Khanna made a few phone calls but this wasn’t the case with Hrithik. He didn’t look like a newcomer who was delivering dialogues like he was reading them off a sheet of paper. He looked polished, rehearsed, and aware of what he was doing and this was more than enough the innocent audience of the time. He believed that he didn’t want to offer any excuses for his failure so he went all in just to make an unforgettable first impression.

The decades of hard work Hrithik had put in himself was finally getting showcased to the rest of the world but he believed that he “did nothing extraordinary.” In a chat with Simi Garewal shortly after the release of the film, he sounded as if he was in disbelief at his stardom. “I entered as a nobody and when I came out, there was hysteria all around me,” he said as he sounded like a man who was yet to get an introduction with his new starry self. Little boys around the country suddenly started joining dance classes and wearing rimless spectacles, even if they didn’t need any. Vicky Kaushal looked like a grown-up version of that little boy as he matched up his steps to Hrithik’s at a recent award show.

The Hrithik craze was everywhere. So much so that even established stars like Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan became collateral damage to this mania. A week before Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, Aamir’s Mela released in theatres and disappeared without a trace. A week later, Shah Rukh’s first production Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani released and met a rather unfortunate fate. Aamir somehow escaped the war but Shah Rukh became the target here. Shah Rukh, who was a bonafide movie star at the time, had his throne in jeopardy because Hrithik looked like a real contender. In a 2005 episode of Koffee with Kaan, even Karan admitted that there “used to be an awkwardness between Shah Rukh and Hrithik” in those early days. Shah Rukh also addressed this comparison in Anupama Chopra’s book King of Bollywood as he said, “It was so wrong. You can’t take away ten years of work. You can’t suddenly tell me one morning, ‘Hey you’re displaced. You are too old, you are not good enough.’ I couldn’t go out of the house without someone asking me what I thought of Hrithik Roshan. It became shameless.”

The Pepsi-Cola war of the time also jumped onto the same bandwagon as Pepsi made an ad with Shah Rukh and cast a Hrithik look-alike and called him a “loser.” “I think it’s in bad taste and so does Hrithik,” said Rakesh in an interview with Rediff. The ad was even discussed in Panchjanya, the RSS magazine, which implied that Hrithik was challenging the Khan dominance in Bollywood and Pepsi had made an ugly attempt to destroy his popularity.

The rivalry was short-lived as Hrithik Roshan and Shah Rukh Khan were soon seen together in Karan Johar’s Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.

As much as Rakesh and Hrithik were enjoying the ride after the film’s success, the celebrations were shortlived. Just a week after the film’s release, Rakesh Roshan was shot in broad daylight outside his office. This was the era when the underworld had a strong presence in Bollywood and calls for extortion weren’t seen as out of the ordinary. As Rakesh drove himself to the hospital after being shot, Hrithik wondered if he was responsible for this tragedy. “I wanted to quit films because I thought I was indirectly responsible for it,” he told Simi Garewal. But, as Rakesh got better, Hrithik found it a “blessing in disguise” as his father’s heart problems wouldn’t have come to light if he wasn’t in the hospital.

Hrithik hadn’t even come to terms with his stardom when he almost lost his father. As time passed, Hrithik said that his first brush with stardom happened when he was part of a charity cricket game at Wankhede. He recalled that he went around the stadium rather awkwardly at first but seeing thousands of people cheer for him awakened something in him. As he started waving to them, and throwing some flying kisses, he saw the instant effect he had on people. This was something he hadn’t experienced in person until then and one can imagine that this was a moment that transformed something in him.

Many actors have had hyped starry launches but no one became a star the way Hrithik did in 2000 with Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. The memory of the audience erupting in a cheer as he danced to ‘Sitaron Ki Mehfil’ at the end of the film, and as they walked away in a state of glee is unforgettable. Hrithik has completed 25 years in the business and he hasn’t had nearly as many releases as he should have but the memory of watching a newcomer turn into a star in just three hours is something the Y2K kids will live with as long as Hrithik continues to face the camera.