25 years of love, fun and music
The year 2000 was important in many ways. Completely different from the mood of the bygone era. It was called the Millennium Year. The whole world welcomed it with great enthusiasm. It was a grand season of historic celebration in the lives of generations crossing the century mark. In the beginning of this year, Hrithik Roshan’s film ‘Kaho Na Pyaar Hai’ was released. It had everything that the new readers would be thrilled to see. Teenage, young age and even urban old age could not escape from Filmmania and Hrithik fever. It was a kind of tsunami of popularity. I remember an incident when after the release of the film, Hrithik Roshan show was organized at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi. But as Delhi Police had declared itself incapable of handling the crowd, as a result the show could not be allowed. From this one incident, it can be understood what was the effect of that film’s fever and Hrithik Roshan’s magic. But we will discuss further where Hrithik Roshan stands in the film industry today.
It is worth noting that fighting, pushing, ruckus, police lathicharge at the ticket window to watch a movie or other entertaining show was not a new thing in bygone times. The crowd has gone out of control to watch Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan’s acting or Helen’s dance, but this has rarely happened in film history when law and order guardians step in for the security of a star! After twenty-four years, once again almost the same scene was seen in Allu Arjun’s show. In the year 2000, there was a storm of ‘Kaho Na Pyaar Hai’ in the entire country. Hrithik Roshan was intoxicated on the hearts and minds of every child. Hrithik style glasses, Hrithik style dance, Hrithik style T-shirt and Hrithik style vest were being sold as new brands in the market. There was also a competition among the youth to make Hrithik Marka body. This was the grassroots impact of cinema.
Adventure of dance-love, music-fun and thrill
This was the biggest basis of the popularity of Kaho Na Pyaar Hai…. People had seen the story of the lookalike coming after the interval in Hindi films and connecting it with the first part of the film many times. The same one-liner from the original story can also be seen in Shammi Kapoor’s China Town, Shatrughan Sinha’s Kalicharan and Amitabh Bachchan’s Don. But films like Kalicharan and Don had crime in the background whereas Kaho Na Pyaar Hai… was completely full of love, fun, music, romance and adventurous locations from India to New Zealand and thrills. Songs filmed on the cruise under the music direction of Rajesh Roshan- In the abyss of love… in the fun of waves… or in a black dress Say it is love… Like Hrithik and Ameesha’s performance on the song made millions of youth crazy. In the millennium year, where the concept of global village was developing, the youth embraced this film equipped with these things.
Hrithik Roshan is Rohit before the interval, who is a struggling singer but has great potential to become a rock star. He does not have parents but he has a younger brother whose responsibility rests on his shoulders. Meanwhile, Rohit falls in love with Sonia i.e. Ameesha Patel, the daughter of a millionaire father, but due to being a witness to a crime, she gets fatally attacked and dies after falling into the river along with the bike. After which Sonia becomes inconsolable, so father Anupam Kher sends her to New Zealand to change her mood. Where he finds Rohit’s lookalike – his name is Raj. After this the story progresses like a thriller and reaches its conclusion.
Millennium Year and Hrithik’s magic
The Millennium Year was different in many ways. The time period slightly before and after the year 2000 is seen as post-modernism all over the world. In the world of entertainment, the seventies were desperate for the sound of the 21st century. First Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan and then in the era of liberalization in the nineties, the three Khan stars changed the standards of cinema, but even then there was a lot that the young generation of India was deprived of seeing. The window to the world in front of him had not opened properly. The conscious youth of metropolitan cities and changing villages and towns were not very enthusiastic about the Hindi cinema world – hence they were turning to Hollywood indiscriminately. Multiplexes were being built in place of single screen theatres, where the new age crowd was there. Here formula cinema was not able to please. He was looking for an icon who could fulfill his Hollywood aspirations. In such an environment of multiplexes, Hrithik Roshan came as a new wind. And the backdrop of Kaho Na Pyaar fitted perfectly.
Hrithik Roshan’s personality, acting, impression and perception did not have the traditional impression of a Hindi cinema actor. For those Indian audiences who were accustomed to watching Hollywood actors or wanted to experience the fun of modern cinema with popcorn in the colorful world of multiplexes, Hrithik Roshan was truly the film incarnation of the ‘Greek God’. No wonder, later he was also called a ‘Greek God’ in gossips. Within no time, Hrithik became the heartthrob of the youth. Like Devanand and Rajesh Khanna, his craze was seen the most among school-college girls. Hrithik’s long face, his eyes, fluttering wings all started appearing in my dreams. Hrithik’s personality had that appeal which developed physical sense in the youth in a new way. This Dharmendra was completely different from Vinod Khanna. After the arrival of Salman Khan and Hrithik Roshan, new gyms opened even in small towns and the crowd of youth started increasing there.
When the name got illuminated among the three Khans
Now just look at the timing. Hrithik Roshan’s arrival comes when there were three big Khans in Hindi films – Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan. Stars like Saif Ali Khan were also there as a bonus. Anil Kapoor’s positioning was at its place, yet only those films which had some ‘Khan’ in them could become blockbusters at the box office. This is the reason why Bollywood was also ridiculed at that time and it was called ‘Khanwood’. The Hindi film industry which was once in the hands of ‘Kumar’, ‘Kapoor’, ‘Khanna’ or ‘Bachchan’, was now dominated by ‘Khan’. In such a situation, the rise of a star like Hrithik opened a new sky in Bollywood. Issues like Hindu-Muslim also came to the fore in many circles. Some presented Hrithik as the great Hindu hero who ousted the three Khans from the field. It cannot be said whether Hrithik Roshan got the benefit of this or not, but when Hrithik married Sussanne Khan, the hearts of those who called him a Hindu hero were broken. These interesting incidents were also seen in Hrithik Fever.
Hrithik Roshan’s position after 25 years
Anyway, let’s talk about where Hrithik Roshan stands in the film industry today after 25 years? There is no doubt that Hrithik Roshan had a bumper opening but his middle order faltered but after that he handled the innings with great wisdom. The reason for the faltering was some carelessness of Hrithik Roshan. He did not try to maintain the wave of fan following. Whatever type of films he got, he started playing roles in them. Subhash Ghai’s ‘Yaadein’ is a perfect example of this. Despite being with the then popular actress Kareena Kapoor, that film bombed at the box office. In fact, the audience did not care for the unique perception that Hrithik had.
But this does not mean at all that there was no lack of talent in Hrithik. He gave new heights to his career in films like Koi Mil Gaya, Krish series, Jodha Akbar, Mohenjo Daro, Super 30, Kaabil, War or the recent Fighter. He also acted with Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan in Kabhi Khushi, Kabhi Gum and successfully faced both these veteran stars. Today we are remembering the unprecedented success of Kaho Na Pyaar Hai. There is also discussion about making its second part. Although there is no doubt that Hrithik did not get the same box office success as that film, but there is no question on Hrithik’s success. Hrithik became a superstar overnight from his first film and has maintained his stardom till date. Otherwise, there are many such star sons who got lost in later years. Hrithik remained high due to his hard work.
Hrithik is a perfect example of success today
Another important thing is that Hrithik Roshan has a tremendous understanding of respecting people. Despite separation from Sussanne Khan, she kept her image clean. Kangana exercised commendable restraint in the controversy. By working hard and keeping his body and dancing style different from others, he successfully overcame the stuttering that had been prevalent since childhood and never let it become a weakness in his performances. Today Hrithik is a perfect example of success.
