Hrithik Roshan says he did Kaho Na Pyaar Hai after dad Rakesh Roshan didn't want to cast him: 'I was looking for work'

Hrithik Roshan is opening up about the time he made his acting debut with Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (2000). The Bollywood actor recalled how his father, director Rakesh Roshan 'offered' him the part despite telling him that he was reluctant in casting Hrithik in the lead. (Also read: Hrithik Roshan poses in snow with girlfriend Saba Azad, sons Hrehaan and Hridaan Roshan in Christmas pic from Europe)

The War (2019) actor said that his father Rakesh Roshan was known for only working with stars and was reluctant to cast him in the next film that would have a big star in the lead. So he went ahead and started looking out for work himself, even recollecting how he requested famous photographer Daboo Ratnani to click his pictures and he would pay back to him later.

“My father told me time and time again, ‘I’m not going to make a film for you, you’re on your own’. So, I was doing screen tests, I did a couple of them, I was looking for work. For my photo session, I had no money. I had promised Daboo Ratnani that I will pay him once I start to earn. All of this was going on, and suddenly, I got this offer. And all I knew was that I had to satisfy my director,” Hrithik said in an interview with Galatta Plus. He further added that he credits his upbringing and innocence as the reason behind the instant connect with the audience.

Talking about the time his father changed his mind, Hrithik further added, “When he heard that I was doing screen tests, and was getting offers, maybe he sat down one day and thought, ‘Yeh kya ho raha hai (What is this happening), am I losing out?’ That, and he was making a film at that time with Shah Rukh [Khan] or Aamir [Khan] which fell through. And he had another thought, and while he was working on the scripting of that film with all the writers — and I was a part of this process — some weeks into it, everyone started feeling that this film needs a new boy or new girl. You have seen big stars do these roles, and even I was a part of that, that noise. Even I was like, ‘Yes, papa, I don’t want to see Shah Rukh do this’. And, when this got very repetitive, he said, ‘That’s not what I had in mind, I’m taking you in the film’.”

Hrithik was last seen in the film Vikram Vedha, which also starred Saif Ali Khan and Radhika Apte. He will be next seen in director Siddharth Anand’s action film Fighter alongside Deepika Padukone and Anil Kapoor. The film will mark Hrithik's first outing with Deepika, and will hit cinemas in 2024.