Anand Kumar is the biggest hero I've played so far: Hrithik

The actor, popular for his larger-than-life roles, dons a more realistic look in his latest film Super 30, a biopic on mathematician Anand Kumar

Just like the different characters he portrays on screen, Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan has many sides to his personality in real life too. There is passion, dedication, rage and intuitiveness in the answers he provided to our questions on his latest film Super 30 which releases in the UAE this weekend. 
The 45-year-old actor, who plays a down-to-earth teacher in the Vikas Bahl directed film, tells us about the challenges of playing mathematician Anand Kumar, who prepares underprivileged students for the Institute of Technology and Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE) in Bihar. 
While Hrithik passionately answered most of our questions, he avoided talking about Bahl who has been accused of sexual harassment by an ex employee of the now disbanded Phantom Films. The filmmaker has been given a clean chit by the Internal Complaints Committee of Reliance Entertainment who probed the charges. 
You've played a superhero, an emperor and other larger-than-life characters in your films, but in Super 30 you play a down-to-earth maths teacher. How was the experience?
In my opinion, this role is more significant than any of the superheroes that I have played. It is one of the most prominent characters that I have played because for me, when you say larger-than-life, I interpret it as the larger-than-life arc of the journey of the character. That arc of the journey and the growth in that role makes any character larger than life. In that reference, this character has been the biggest hero that I have played so far because he goes through the biggest downfall and the biggest rise. For me, this character is not less than any of the superheroes that I have played. People say that this film is very hard (tough role), but I think it has been very easy for me because the hard part was done when I read the script. The script impacted me in such a beautiful and significant way that I was left open and bare to this magnetic and incredible character in the script. It was something that I had never experienced. Every cell of my body was burning with passion while playing this character. Even if you had put a gun to my head and said, 'If you do this film, I will shoot you,' I would have done the film. It was just so instinctively powerful for me.
Do you think we need to share more inspiring stories about our real-life heroes through movies? 
I think films that inspire and entertain at the same time are my favourite films. 
So what attracted you to the role?
The film is about education, but that's not what drove me to do the film. I did not do the movie for a social cause, but for a human purpose. I was inspired by this human being and his amazing and beautiful journey. Anand sir is a man of various shades. He is as quirky and edgy as Aryan from Dhoom 2 in many ways. It is all about your attitude towards life, and to make a joke when you are in the middle of a catastrophe. He (Anand) is a very cool guy, and that is what attracted me towards this film. 
Do you think cinema has the power to change the mindset of people? 
I think cinema, which persuasively speaks of things, can get embedded in the hearts and minds of people. It is like hypnosis if you ask me because it is emotional and visual - sound and vision together attack your senses. There are films that I have watched in my childhood which have had a profound impact in my life, and I still remember those frames, those moments and many symbolic points of the movie. The films we love inspire us and our entire lives. A moment, or a full movie, can so touch us that it could become a guiding light for your life. It has happened to me a number of times. It could be a movie or a poem, but the film has the power to empower to a large extent.
Were you good at maths in your academic life? 
I was not bad, but I was not great. I was average. I used to get rattled by equations, especially in my higher class. But I managed well.
There is a lot of criticism over the dark make-up you put on for the role. Do you think those comments are valid or unfair?
I don't understand that because I have been darker (skin tone) in films like Agneepath and some other films. There is a kind of racism in the question itself as it is telling me that as a fair-skinned actor, I am not allowed to choose movies that have characters whose skin tone needs to be darker. It is telling me that only dark-skinned characters are allowed to play dark-skinned roles, and that is very unjust, and it does not compute as fair in my head. I think as creative people, we should be free to explore and express. I should be allowed to play roles where I am required to be dark, fair, red, green whatever, but I should be free. If you ask me that question and then look at the facts of the matter, I am playing a character selling pappad on the streets under the sun, in 45 degrees, and if you tell me that I should have kept my skin fair then I feel that it is nonsensical and biased thinking - it wants to try and instigate. I am not a person who likes to get instigated, but any person in the world who is selling pappad under the Patna sun will be very dark and tanned. I think we should all be open to exploring, even though I am fairer than the average, and freedom should be granted to me to act in a variety of roles. 
You prefer taking long gaps in between your films. Do you do it so you can recharge, take a break, and give 100% to your role?
Yes, this is my style. I think that it's the way I do things, and I don't feel the need to look at it negatively. I have done my best, and I keep doing my best, and for some reason, my films have not had the best of luck in terms of production time. Super 30 has been delayed by 6-7 months and so had Mohenjo Daro for a few months, but then there comes along a film that gets done in 80 days and gets released in 10 months. I am looking forward to doing those kinds of films and working with strong producers because I think it helps in getting a film done on time. I hope to be able to do more movies in lesser time, but so far I don't think that I have done anything that I regret. 
What have been your biggest life learnings in the last few years?
Life is a constant state of learning and growing. I have been learning something every single day. Perhaps what I have learned is that to grow in life, you have to get a little uncomfortable and subject yourself to challenges. I have learned that you must be a student for life and constantly try and better yourself. One must hope and keep oneself stimulated. One should avoid monotony in life. There is a quote that I have coined, and it goes like this: 'Kill the monotony before it murders your enthusiasm. Because if you keep doing the same thing over and over again, then your spirit will die.' 
How do you shut yourself from constant distractions coming from different areas of life?
It's not hard to do it once you have enough practice, and I have had quite a bit of practice in my life. It is to be able to see yourself and your experience as significant and a speck in the larger scheme of things. The truth is we are here for a purpose and to create things. If we are always creating the narrative that we want in our life, then distraction and negativity will remain on the sides.
There is a very cool thing that I learned while skiing, and I apply that to my life as well. When you are skiing, the instructor tells you that if you are skiing on a slope which has trees on the sides, then do not look at the trees because if we do so, we will ski towards the trees and crash. It is something that I tried, and it's true. The moment you turn your direction from where you want to go to where you don't want to go, then you start going towards where you do not want to go and crash. That is something so true in life. If you give attention to what you don't want in life, then you will manifest it more because you are thinking about it. We all need to apply this at some point in our life.
How is Mrunal Thakur as an actress? 
Mrunal is an incredible actor who is spontaneous and willing to go the distance. She is a team player. I love working with an actor who is not the kind who gives preference to their close ups than the entirety of the film. She is  very beautiful as an actor. The sensitive and nuanced performances that she has done are some of the best that I've seen on screen.
Have you seen her critically acclaimed film, Love Sonia?
I have not seen Love Sonia, but I have heard the waves that it has made around the world. I don't have to see the film to know how amazing Mrunal has been and is as an actor. She is genuinely a brilliant and very fantastic co-star. Nobody could have done this role as well as her.
 
 
arti@khaleejtimes.com