Hrithik Roshan gets candid

This is your first time working with Aishwarya Rai.

Ash is a fantastic person. She has a dance sequence in Dhoom 2 and I'm doing the easiest thing: watching her dance. It was truly a treat! We have hardly shot any scenes together, so I am waiting eagerly to work with her.

It seems that you are on a sequel spree after Koi Mil Gaya. Even Sanjay Gadhvi's Dhoom 2 is a sequel.

(Laughs) I am the sequel boy of Bollywood! Well, Dhoom 2 is mind blowing and it's certainly not just about bikes or attitude. I would love to tell you about the plot and my character, but I haven't yet shot much and they would just throw me out of the film (Laughs).

Do you think films like Akbar-Jodha would work when Indian cinema and its audience have moved on to contemporary subjects?

I have extreme faith in Ashutosh as a director. This is not the kind of Akbar we've ever seen. This film will be a far more real representation of that historical era than other films.

Had you not been Hrithik Roshan, do you think this industry would have given you 12 chances to flop and rise again?

Absolutely! I am what I am today only because of my karma. With my first film, magazines wrote "phenomena"; later they wrote "finished". So, I've learnt a lot about life in the phase from "phenomena" to "finished". The wisdom in your worst times is what will carry you to your good times.

Hrithik: I'm the villain you'll fall in love with


"You know where I live?" he asks, when I stop him from giving me directions to Guman Villa, his suburban Mumbai home. Coming from any other star, that would have sounded incredulous, even fake. But it's Hrithik Roshan. His modesty is paralleled only by Amitabh Bachchan's, so you've got to believe him.

This is Roshan's year. With Rs 90 crore riding on Krrish and Dhoom 2, and a leaner, more chiselled look to boot—the 32-year-old is being touted as this summer's biggest show-stopper. (It's a coincidence that both the films are sequels.)

With Krrish, we'll finally get our own version of a Matrix-style Superman. In Dhoom 2, Roshan does the baddie act, sporting a pout and a bandanna. Later in the year, there's Zoya Akhtar's experimental love story and Ashutosh Gowariker's historical Jodha Akbar. But before the professional deadlines, Roshan will become a father in March.

"I'm taking each day as it comes. There's no pressure," he says, as poised as you'd expect him to be.

Would you then admit that you get a little obsessive about work?
I don't have long-term goals and short-term plans to achieve. I take my work very seriously, but don't take myself so seriously. I'll do whatever I must to get it right if I'm excited by the film.

You are very cautious.
I'm instinctive. If there is a reason to hold on or mull over something, then it's probably not calling out hard enough.

Are you all set to play the mean villain in Dhoom 2?
Yup, and don't be surprised if you end up falling in love with the villain. Dhoom 2 is turning out to be a great experience. I'm quite happy to see a similar level of involvement on the Dhoom 2 sets as on my home productions. It looks like a good prospect for a good product.

Is there competition between you and your Dhoom 2 co-star Abhishek Bachchan?
Actors always get pitted against each other. I was pitted against Shah Rukh Khan. Personally, I think that's great. I'm a firm believer in competition. Without that, human beings won't really realise their potential. Competition is the one thing that makes others push you to excel.

With Dhoom 2 and Jodha Akbar, you and Aishwarya Rai are being projected as the next big pair. Comment.
I've just started working with Ash. She's looking stunning. It's very nice working with someone who is so beautiful, talented, down-to-earth and easy to talk to. Let's hope we can live up to the expectations.

Like Ash, do you want to work in a Hollywood film?
My big dream is to take our cinema to a world platform. I don't believe in the term crossover. Every film is a potential crossover. The idea of acting in a Jackie Chan film doesn't excite me. That's betrayal.