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The four-part documentary series The Roshans, which explores the Roshan family’s many achievements, was released on Netflix on Friday. The family’s patriarch was the legendary music composer Roshan Lal Nagrath, whose sons, Rajesh Roshan and Rakesh Roshan, followed in his footsteps and joined the film industry after his death. Hrithik Roshan, the son of Rakesh Roshan, belongs to the third generation of the family. In the series, Rakesh Roshan speaks frankly about the struggles he experienced while trying to make it as a star.
Sharing his struggles, he said, “My responsibilities increased a lot. Pinkie (wife) had come from such a renowned family, and here we were, living in a two-bedroom flat. Sometimes, it used to be like, ‘How am I going to pay the monthly bills?’ I would often approach a friend and ask them for a loan, saying, ‘Could you give me Rs 5000? I don’t have enough money to pay my bills.’ I was ready to put in the hard work, but for some reason, I wasn’t getting enough success.”
A desperate Rakesh Roshan would wake up every morning and dial at least five producers and directors asking for work. “‘Uncle, please give me some work.'” He recalled the times when he had to stop himself from joining his family on holidays, because he had accepted smaller roles in films. “We would make all the preparations and be ready to leave, when suddenly I would land a small role in some film and I would think, ‘I will get Rs 40 to 50,000 for this’. And I wouldn’t go with the kids on holiday. So Pinkie would end up taking them,” shared the veteran.
Recalling his dad’s struggles, Hrithik Roshan added in the series, “I do see the journey that my father took. It was a very difficult one. And I remember reading this interview, where he was quoted as saying, ‘I will not die until I prove myself.’ And I remember sitting down and just praying to God and saying, ‘God, please make my father successful.’ It stuck with me. My father’s desire and need for that validation to be seen. He was at war.”
Despite all the failures and struggles, Rakesh Roshan was determined to be noticed by the audience. He would take up all kinds of side roles, including villains. “I kept standing at the bus stop with a single thought; whatever the weather, stormy or calm, come rain or come shine, I would continue standing there. At some point in time, some bus will come and take me along.”
Finally the day came, when Rakesh Roshan was approached by filmmaker Basu Chatterjee for a lead’s role in the 1977 film Priyatama. But that too was short-lived when the heroine of the film refused to star opposite him.
“One day the producer called and said to me, ‘We want to cast someone else because the distributors and the film’s heroine both have refused to work with you saying that if you are in the movie then it will never sell. The heroine refuses to work with you’. Then Basu da came to me and said, ‘Wait, there is another good role in the film for you, Guddu.’ Since it was Basu da, I couldn’t refuse. But I was deeply hurt by that. ‘Why did this happen?’ I went up to our terrace. And started yelling at God. I kept yelling and cursing him. ‘Why are you doing this to me? I am working so hard.'”
He added, “When I was making Koi… Mil Gaya, I created a scene which depicted the same emotion that I had experienced in the past.”
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