In this fascinating interview we revist the one where star Hrithik Roshan talked of with Subhash K Jha about the making of Jodhaa-Akbar right before the release of the brilliant film in 2008.
What was it like shooting for Jodhaa-Akbar?
Jodhaa-Akbar has been tough. Luckily, people are looking forward to it. Some for the grandeur and ambience. Others so that they get an opportunity to throw some tomatoes on the screen. I’m happy everyone is motivated to come for the film.
You were quoted as saying you’d never do a historical again.
Not true. I might’ve said that in a specific context. But I’d definitely not do another one for a long time. It’s such a momentous opportunity. Doing it again would make it less sublime. When you think of period, you think of a grandeur that’s hard to replicate. I don’t think I’d want to get into that space for a long time.
Has Jodhaa-Akbar been especially taxing?
None of my films has been easy. Krissh and Dhoom 2 have been as physically and emotionally taxing as Jodhaa-Akbar. I’ve enjoyed it so much. And I wouldn’t do a historical for the same reasons that I wouldn’t do a Dhoom for a long time. Dhoom and Jodhaa-Akbar covered two genres exhaustively.
But playing Akbar would be radically different from playing Buddha? Apparently, Shyam Benegal offered you Buddha?
I’m sure Buddha would be a great subject and a wonderful characters to explore. But again, playing Siddharth is about armour and horses. And I’ve been there and done that. The ambience, country and language would require a similar discipline for me. I wouldn’t mind doing a period fantasy like Pirates Of The Caribbean. It’s always fun to bounce off into the other extreme. Dhoom helped me to get excited and challenged about Jodhaa-Akbar. It was a challenge for both Ash and me. Now, I want to do something entirely contemporary.
That brings me to the question of how open the audience is to watching Aishwarya and you do a costume drama after the fiercely contemporary Dhoom 2?
It’s always a challenge for any actor to make the audience forget not just the outside world but everything that they’ve seen before on screen, to suck you completely into the magic of the moment, and to make the audience exhilarated. You are asking me if Jodhaa-Akbar does that or not. Only the audience can answer that. For me, the film is already a success. The box office is only going to be a bonus…hopefully.
This is your first collaboration with Ashutosh Gowariker.
Yes. My primary motivation for doing Jodhaa-Akbar was to mingle with a mind that’d be as alert and innovative as Ashutosh’s. I knew he’d help me explore a different facet of my acting. He helped me go to places in my psyche I had never gone to before. It’s been great fun. Ashutosh is a damn good combination of intelligent preparation and spontaneity. He comes fully prepared. But has the guts to throw it out of the window if he so wishes. He has the power to turn the scenes around in your head. Sometimes, he’d whisper a thought in my ear. And my entire being would be reverberating with that emotion and with the desire to express it in front of the camera. Then you look back on the shot, and you whistle in admiration and pride. Different films offer me different tunings with the director. Jodhaa-Akbar has benefited me immensely as an actor.
Do you feel you’ve so far achieved what you set out to?
One of life’s greatest lessons is that you never reach the summit. I’ve seen my dad achieve more success than anyone else. Mine pales in comparison. I still see him tense, fearful, anxious, unsure, and ready to fight every time he starts a new film. I don’t want to reach that summit where I say, ‘Ah, I’ve arrived.’ Right now, that place doesn’t even exist in my head.
Can you and Aishwarya pull off a Dilip Kumar and Madhubala in the new-age Mughal-e-Azam?
The expectations are definitely high. They always are when it comes to an Ashutosh Gowariker film, and that, too, is a historical one. But there’s a new aspect to the whole challenge, namely the fact that the pair which appeared so successfully in the previous film is now doing something radically different. But that’s not something Aishwarya and I nor Ashutosh need to keep in mind. Our job was to be completely true to our film without bothering about the repercussions of what came before or after Jodhaa-Akbar. By the grace of God, we’ve created another Dhoom this time.
