BOLLYWOOD HRITHIK ROSHAN The New Emperor of Bollywood
n all the clamour made about the ban- to the latest ‘Jodhaa Akbar’, he has essayed zling depiction of the mysterious Mr. A in ning of the Hindi period romance roles that are as diverse and wide as the ‘Dhoom-2’ — Roshan has displayed an ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ by the Indian states of gamut of emotions and acting skills that he is amazing repertoire of histrionics and Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh (MP) and capable of exhibiting. breathed life into his on-screen personas so UttarI Pradesh, the subsequent lifting of the Be it any role — a romantic hero much so that you get to see the reel charac- ban by the MP High Court, the protests Rohit/Raj in ‘Kaho Na Pyar Hai’, where he ters and not Roshan, the actor. staged by a motley group in Maharashtra made his stunning debut and caught the But it was as Akbar in Ashutosh against the movie, and about the box-office imagination of the nation, or a convincing Gowariker’s ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ that the true mag- collections that the movie has raked in world- portrayal of a terrorist in ‘Fiza’, or a mind- nificence of Hrithik emerges. wide (about Rs. 740 million worldwide with- blowing interpretation of a growth retarded Roshan as Emperor Jalaluddin Akbar looks in 10 days of its release), one gets a feeling man-child in ‘Koi Mil Gaya’, or a fantastic absolutely larger than life. The film made by that something is not being given the atten- Indian superman avatar in ‘Krrish’, or a daz- Ashutosh Gowiraker is today hailed as one of tion that it richly deserves. It is the emer- the best historical films ever made. gence of Hrithik Roshan as the new emperor Apart from this, the performance of Hrithik of Bollywood. has left not only the audience but the critics Reams of pages have been written about also spellbound. The notable fact with this the ‘Badshahs’ and ‘Shahenshahs’ of film is that Hrithik played his role with such Bollywood. But if there is someone who is a aplomb that we just cannot imagine anyone worthy contender to the title Shahenshah, it else of today’s generation who could possibly has to be Roshan. There are reasons. match his persona. A great actor is one who can get into the No wonder that Dilip Kumar, the legendary skin of any character that he is asked to por- actor who played the role of Akbar’s son, tray and live the character on the screen. Salim, in the magnum opus ‘Mughal-e- Though every actor worth his salt tries to do Azam’, reportedly said, “After watching just this, very few succeed in their efforts. Hrithik play Akbar, I was reminded of my film And that too, portraying a historical charac- ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ and the role of Salim that I ter on the screen is not something that comes essayed. Besides, he plays any role to such easily to everyone. perfection that he metamorphoses from being Roshan has excelled in all sorts of roles. Hrithik playing a role to the actual character Starting from his first film ‘Kaho Na Pyar Hai’ in the film going about as himself.” !
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