'I Stand By The Dhoom Kiss' - Hrithik

Hrithik is fully enjoying his new sexy image after Dhoom 2. "I continue to get messages galore… I enjoy all of them, the sweet, the polite, and the graphic. I love them all. As it's going, Dhoom 2 will become the biggest hit ever! The collections are insane. Overseas, Mumbai and some other places it has already crossed the entire business of my other 2006 release of Krissh. I'm so glad it all worked out."

A case has been filed in Indore against Hrithik and Aishwarya for their kissing sequence. But Hrithik is unfazed. "If I thought it was unnecessary or unbecoming I wouldn't have done it. It's all about moral perceptions. To someone with a backward mindset even holding hands in public is scandalous. In the west, kissing in public is absolutely normal. It's sad that we categorize anything physical as unbecoming."

He refuses to believe there's a widespread outcry against the kiss. 'It's just one man (in Indore) who has objected. He doesn't represent any section of the people. He's a lawyer sitting in his office and enjoying every bit of the limelight. I believe he's so excited about a TV camera in his office. It's like a burst of glory in his life. I'm totally indifferent to this kind of behaviour. It's time for a change."

Hrithik is optimistic about the future. "The collective consciousness of society regarding moral values is evolving. I dream big movies. I dream beautiful visuals. For me the kissing scene in Dhoom 2 is one such visual. It's all about love. It's a moment when long-withheld love between my character and the girl he loves culminates in a kiss. It's a celebration of love when two people who love each other come together. It's a beautiful scene. It's one of the primary scenes driving forward the love story of Sunehri and my character Aryan."

Hrithik admits he had never done a kissing scene before. "I did give it a lot of thought. There was enough reason and inspiration here to go ahead. I tried to make it as beautiful as possible. And I stand by it completely."

So how does it feel to be called he new No 1? "Great! But it's futile to do mental gymnastics about my box-office position. These are numbers meant to only inflate your ego. I'm enjoying it, yes. It's very important for me to understand that people are only trying to make me happy by calling me Rock Star and No.1, or whatever. I'd rather not waste my time thinking about this. I've done good work and Dhoom 2 worked. What made it work was that all of us in the film were on the same side. All of us—Abhishek, Ash, Uday, Bipasha and I—were trying to make the same film. That's why we had such a happy ending."

Suddenly the 20-something generation is rooting for Hrithik . "Agreed, they're an attraction. But I think what worked for my character is that I played a cool guy for the first time. I did play one in the second-half of Kaho Na…Pyar Hai. But that's it. Otherwise I was relegated to playing goody two-shoes…you know, the consummate do-gooder with a sweet smile on his face. After the nerd and the innocent Koi …Mil Gaya and Krissh it's very re-assuring to know I'm capable of jumping from one end of the image-spectrum to another. As an actor it's very satisfying to be accepted in Dhoom 2. The entire credit for that should be given to the stylist Anaida who took charge of the film's look. I can't even begin to take credit for my look. Right from the conception stage Anaida led me into the look."

So far it was believed good-looking people weren't capable of performing well. Hrithik has proved them wrong. "The fact that they're considered great actors makes them good looking. An actor may not be into gyming and slimming. He still has all the women lusting after him. How do you explain that? There's secret ingredient which you exude and radiate as an actor. That's the quality that makes you sexy."

http://www.indiafm.com/features/2006/12/23/1979/index.html