Hrithik Roshan

Hrithik Roshan, born on January 10, 1974, is a top rung bollywood actor and son of director Rakesh Roshan. Hrithik Roshan is fondly called 'Duggu' by those close to him. As a child artist Hrithik Roshan worked in 'Asha', 'Bhagwan Dada' and 'Aap ke Deewane'. He also worked as an assistant director on 'Khudgarz', 'Karan Arjun' and 'Koyla', 'Karobar' and 'King Uncle'. Hrithik Roshan made his debut as a leading man in Bollywood with 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai', a movie produced and directed by father Rakesh Roshan. The movie was a huge success and turned Hrithik Roshan into a superstar literally overnight.

The movie's success was followed by an attack on Rakesh Roshan by the Mumbai underworld, after he ignored their extortion threats. Rakesh Roshan survived the attack.

Hrithiks debut was so sensational, he was being seen as the man taking over from Shahrukh Khan, arguably the most successful actor in bollywood. Shahrukh Khan at that point of time became so insecure reportedly that he agreed to do a Pepsi commercial that made a dig at Hrithik Roshan who endorsed Coke then. This led to a lot of bad press for Shahrukh Khan. Eventually things were sorted out and the two even worked together in Karan Johar's 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham' where Hrithik played younger brother to Shahrukh Khan.

Hrithik Roshan married Suzzane Khan soon after his debut amidst strong rumors of his liason with Kareena Kapoor. Hrithik's wife Suzzane Khan is the daughter of yesteryear's actor-director Sanjay Khan and sister of actor Zayed Khan. Hrithik now has a son from Suzzane Khan, named 'Rehaan'.

Meanwhile Hrithik's debut movie was followed by a string of flops including 'Fiza', 'Mission Kashmir', 'Yaadein', 'Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage ', 'Na Tum Jaano Na Hum', 'Mujhse Dosti Karoge!' and 'Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon ' with the 2001 release 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham' being the only success in this period. Critics almost wrote him off calling him a 'one film wonder' and a 'flash in the pan' until he bounced back with 'Koi Mil Gaya' again directed by his father, Rakesh Roshan.

Hrithik Roshan played a mentally retarted boy who becomes unusually strong and powerful with the influence of an extra terrestrial visitor from space. The movie also brought him critical aclaim apart from bringing him back in favor with the masses.In early 2006 Hrithik Roshan starred in Krissh, a sequel to 'Koi Mil Gaya', the third movie produced and directed by his father for him that collected over 70 crore rupees (About $15 million) at the box office.

Over the last five years, his three home productions have been his most successful films and some believe that Hrithik is only successful with his father behind the camera. Sources close to the Roshan family tell us that Hrithik Roshan has immense talent for filmmaking and his contribution to these movies have been behind the camera too. Hrithik is known to be very passionate about his work and gets involved in every aspect of a movie, especially if it is his own home production. Rakesh Roshan has publicly acknowledged Hrithik's role in keeping him in touch with contemporary world cinema. Hrithik has assisted Rakesh Roshan on his home productions including 'King Uncle' and Karan Arjun'.

Hrithik Roshan is a favorite pin up boy of millions. Few knew that before his debut Hrithik tried hard to have a sculpted body without much success. Finally a dejected Duggu approached superstar Salman Khan, having known him from the days of 'Karan Arjun' and received tips from him. This led to his beefy look in 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai' that clicked with the masses.

Rakesh Roshan had spent a lot of money on his son's debut movie, trying to showcase every talent of his. It turned out to be a very expensive movie and despite efforts distributors were wary of buying the rights to it. Eventually Rakesh Roshan released it himself in a few territories and reaped a bounty as it succeeded in a big way at the box-office.

Industry sources say Hrithik Roshan has been strongly influenced by the family of his in-laws and is no longer the soft spoken down to earth boy he was when he started out. This was apparent when allegations of plagiarism surfaced against Rakesh Roshan for 'Krissh' and Hrithik was quoted as saying, "If there's anybody else out there claiming a piece of dad's original work, please come forward. I have a lot of muscle I need to put to come good use".

Hrithik Roshan is known to be very choosy about the movies he works in and few scripts are written keeping him in mind. He starred in 'Dhoom 2' one of the biggest box-office grossers of 2006 in which he played a villain role for the first time. He's also part of 'Jodha-Akbar' directed by Ashutosh Gowariker where he's paired opposite Aishwarya Rai.

Hrithik has a vestigial thumb on his right hand and is 6 feet tall. His wife, Suzzane Khan has said on record that he's obsessed with his looks and is often found staring at himself in the mirror.