The guy next door for ZNMD and Grit Revenge for AR

That Hrithik Roshan is now flying, I have no doubt. He has put 2010 behind him, and this year he has two exciting films to look forward to - Zoya Akhtar's Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Karan Johar's remake of Agneepath, both of which have roles he's never done before. "That's how I enjoy my work, I am an extremist, I hate monotony," Hrithik said. In Zindagi..., he plays the guy next door, there's no emotional confrontation, no fight in his life. And life itself is a beautiful journey in Spain with three people discovering themselves. But Agneepath is the other end of the spectrum. "Grit, revenge, emotional turmoil, it's all there," he said with feeling.

But this is also Amitabh Bachchan's 1990 National Award-winning role as Vijay Dinanath Chauhan for Yash Johar in the original film. Big shoes for Hrithik to fill. "It would be stupid, preposterous, for me to suggest that I want to immitate him," Hrithik said. "His was one of the best performances in the history of cinema, and the film is one of my favourites, so I am going to give it my best shot. But our characters in the films are as different as our personalities are. And no way am I going to give anybody reason for comparison. When I signed Jodhaa Akbar, people said I had signed my death sentence, because Akbar was moulded in Prithviraj Kapoor's personality. Even well-wishers cautioned me against taking up the challenge. Eventually, when the film was released, nobody even compared the performance; because Prithviraj was magnificent as Akbar, but Ashutosh Gowarikar's Akbar was endearing and enjoyable as well. Ultimately, you have to trust your director.