13 years of Hrithik Roshan!
13 years ago, on this very day, a film starring newcomers released in theatres. Expectations were low, as Rakesh Roshan's previous film Koyla starring Shahrukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit was a box office disaster.
But what followed was mass hysteria.. Hrithik Roshan took the nation by storm. Kaho Na Pyaar Hai was running to packed houses all over India and Hrithik was hailed as a complete package; someone with charisma, screen presence, great looks, unbelievable dancing skills and to top it all a fantastic actor.
He was on the cover of every magazine, every brand in India wanted him to endorse their product. Roshan was also compared to senior and experienced actors like Shahrukh andSalman Khan.
And the Hrithik phenomena didn't end there. During the awards season in January 2001, Hrithik's performance was the highlight of all award shows. KNPH bagged more than 100 awards and Hrithik was one of the first actors in history to win both the Filmfare Best Debut and Best Actor award in the same year.
Unfortunately for him, the fall was almost as sudden as his rise. Fiza, Mission Kashmir, Yaadein and a few forgettable films flopped at the box office. Most of these films were signed before he turned 'superstar' with KNPH. With directors trying to cash-in on his stardom, scripts were rewritten at the last minute to extend his role.
He hit the lowest phase of his career when Sooraj Barjatya's Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon flopped at the box office. In Hrithik's own words, the lowest point of his career was when "a magazine which had my face on the cover and it said 'Finished'".
Having seen it all at the age of 29.. Hrithik proved his detractors wrong when his second home-production, Koi Mil Gaya went on to be the biggest blockbuster of 2003. The film also won him the Filmfare Best Actor Popular and Critics.
Today, 13 years after his debut, Hrithik has delivered some outstanding performances in films like Lakshya, Jodha Akbar, Krrish, Dhoom 2, Guzaarish, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Agneepath. He has hardly put a foot wrong in the last 8 odd years with two rare failures in Kites, an experimental film and Guzaarish, which is widely considered to be one of his best performances.
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