'Duggu can do anything he sets his mind to'

'As tempers flared, worried for his safety, I requested Duggu to sit in his car by the gate.'
'He did.'
'Later, I asked him how he could have remained so calm in the circumstances.'
'He told me simply, "What could have happened? At the most, they would have killed me".'

Hrithik Roshan is a superstar today. But when he was filming Khalid Mohammed's 2000 film Fiza, passersby would wonder who he was and conclude that a television shoot was underway.

As the actor turns 50 on January 10, Khalid, in an interview with Rediff.com Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya, notes, "Duggu was a gifted actor, professional and infallibly punctual. Even on the day his father was shot, outside his office by an underworld assailant for money, Duggu turned up on the set for the shoot. I was shocked."

'Duggu bashfully hid behind his father'

He is one of those rare actors who can speak with his eyes and that was more than a bonus for the character of Amaan in Fiza.

Moreover, Karisma Kapoor's eyes matched Duggu's (Hrithik Roshan) perfectly.

In fact, there is a scene just before the interval where the camera moves from one pair of eyes to another without any dialogues being spoken between the siblings.

I had first met Duggu as a knee-high child in London.

It was my first trip to the city, and while roaming around Oxford Street, I ran into his father (Rakesh Roshan) and him in a mega store.

Rakeshji called Duggu over and told him that I had praised him in my review of Bhagwan Dada.

The 1986 film, directed by J Om Prakash, headlined Rajinikanth in the title role with Duggu as his adopted son.

When told about the compliment, he bashfully hid behind his father.

'Akshay Kumar was interested in playing Karisma's brother in Fiza'

Over the years, I met Duggu at social events hosted by Karan Johar, including one at the China Gate restaurant with his then date, Sussanne (Khan).

He once came for the preview of an American film which I had organised at the Eros preview theatre.

At the time, Dugga had graduated from Mumbai's Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics with a BCom degree and seemed to be at the crossroads, toying with the idea of going abroad to get an MBA degree.

Meanwhile, my co-producer, Pradeep Guha, was suggesting the names of other actors, one of them being Akshay Kumar.

I had narrated the script to Akshay rather listlessly and told him I wanted him to play Karisma's boyfriend, a character eventually performed by newcomer Bikram Saluja.

But Akshay indicated that he was interested in playing Karisma's brother, Amaan.

I hemmed and hawed and said I would get back.

'Karan Johar urged me to meet Duggu and I called him'

Rakeshji had started Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai with Duggu as the leading man in a double role.

I watched him shoot Ek Pal Ka Jeena at Filmistan Studio with Farah (Khan) choreographing the song.

I was quite hung up on those eyes.

Karan, who had a feeling that Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai would turn out to be a good film and a superhit, urged me to meet Duggu.

He believed he was a gifted actor and would emerge in the A-list.

Nervously, I called him and Duggu invited me over for a script narration the next day.

I'm hopeless with narrations.

I read out scripts without any drama, chirruping like a sparrow.

The narration was in his bedroom and it was raining gently.

At the end of it, Hrithik had tears in his eyes and told me immediately that he would do the film.

But he did point out that he was also playing a terrorist in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Mission Kashmir, adding that the role was very different.

I was thrilled.

When I left the house, I told Rakeshji that his son was doing my film and he congratulated me.

In a week or two, Gautam Rajadhyaksha did the first photo-shoot with Duggu in a Pathani suit, and also wearing a black outfit and a bandanna.

Gautam was floored.

'Duggu was no newcomer, he knew the A to Z of film-making'

Even though Fiza was only his third film, he was no newcomer.

Since he had assisted his father on four-five films by then, most notably Karan Arjun, Duggu knew the A to Z of film-making.

He was getting the words, expressions and dialogue pitch right without me even having to instruct him.

The first day's shoot was at Mumbai's Haji Ali dargah where we picturised the song Piya Haji Ali.

I took 15-16 shots of him and I believe Duggu later told Uday Chopra, his close friend then, that it all went off quite well.

The entire unit was impressed when he did a long take dialogue, urging Manoj Bapaiyee's Murad Khan to take him back into the fold, in one take. Santo (Director Of Photography Santosh Sivan) swiftly panned from one actor's face to the other.

This was at a really grungy chawl at Grant Road (south Mumbai).

Undoubtedly, Duggu was a gifted actor, professional and infallibly punctual.

Even on the day his father was shot, outside his office by an underworld assailant for money, Duggu turned up on the set for the shoot.

I was shocked and insisted he should be with Rakeshji at the Cumballa Hill Hospital.

'I was taken aback by his mature acceptance'

On another occasion, we were shooting Jaya Bachchan's funeral scene in a graveyard in Byculla (south Mumbai).

She plays Duggu's mother, who commits suicide after seeing an enraged Amaan pointblank shoot two eve-teasers who were heckling his sister.

He later sneaks into the graveyard to put a handful of soil on his mother's kabar.

Though we had taken all permissions, an ugly fight broke out over a disagreement with the caretakers of the graveyard.

As tempers flared, worried for his safety, I requested Duggu to sit in his car by the gate.

He did.

Meanwhile, Santosh was asked to hand over the reel we had shot.

He used his wits, handed over a blank reel, and we left.

Later, I asked Hrithik how he could have remained so calm in the circumstances.

He told me simply, 'What could have happened? At the most, they would have killed me.'

I was taken aback by his mature attitude in the face of danger.

He was still only in his 20s.

'I couldn't bear to watch him bleed'

Even on screen, Hrithik was very controlled but for that one scene where he shoots two guys for the first time.

I wanted him to let go and he improvised, with tremors running through his body.

Obviously, here was an actor who would go far.

He was a bit of a Calamity Jane, prone to injuries.

I became very fond and protective of him.

We were shooting an action scene where Duggu is hit with a chopper and blood oozed out for real.

I couldn't bear to watch him bleed and urged the action director, Sham Kaushal, to get the shot done quickly without any harm to our Amaan.

'No one wanted to invest in Fiza because it was a woman-centric film'

We started Fiza on a miniscule budget.

Pradeep Guha raised most of the money from friends.

I got about 10 per cent from a friend.

No one wanted to invest in it because it was a woman-centric film and the only two big names in the cast were Jaya Bachchan and Karisma Kapoor.

Karisma was the star then and so busy that we could only rehearse with her an hour or two before the shoot started.

I had wanted to film in a real chawl in Byculla (south Mumbai), but the police couldn't guarantee Karisma's safety.

So we shot in Andheri's Khoja Bungalow.

Fortunately, our art director, Sharmishta Roy, made the place look authentic and painted the walls in shades inspired by Amrita Sher-Gil's paintings.

'Suddenly, Duggu was a superstar and life changed for all of us'

Seventy percent of the film had been shot when Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai released.

It was a major blockbuster.

Suddenly, Duggu was a superstar and life changed for all of us.

UTV entered the picture as 50 per cent producer.

From making do with vada-pav and cutting chai, we could now order pizzas and burgers.

Earlier, we had no money so we had to be content with shooting on the streets of Mumbai, guerilla-style, or at studios.

Now, we could plan an outdoor shoot to Udaipur.

When we went there, it was chaotic.

'In Udaipur, housewives and children came in hordes to see him'

Earlier, when we had shot the Aaja Mahiya song, early one morning on the Pedder Road flyover (in south Mumbai) and Bandra's Bandstand (northwest Mumbai), passersby would look at Duggu and ask, 'Kaun hai yeh?' (Who is he?).

Unable to recognise him, they would jump to the conclusion that we were shooting a TV serial.

In Udaipur, housewives and children came in hordes to see him.

I was frazzled and at one location screamed, 'Don't do this or I won't come to Udaipur again.'

Pradeep Guha laughed out loud, saying that they didn't care if I didn't as long as Hrithik did.

We had permission to shoot near a marble rock valley where Khuda Gawah was filmed earlier.

But at the last minute, we were sent back by the cops.

En route, I saw this brick kiln with a big chimney and dived in.

Three men and two women were sitting inside, with more coming in.

In my frazzled condition, I screamed at them to get out so we could take the shot.

They didn't stir. Instead, I was told to leave.

They pointed out that they owned the kiln.

Even back in Mumbai, when we were shooting Duggu's tandav in an unused mill, the crowd went ballistic!

'He would do breathing exercises during dubbing'

Duggu would drop by during the editing of Fiza.

He would come to the editing studio with a chit of paper on which he had jotted down the number of his takes.

He would sometimes ask if we could use a particular one.

However, Nani sir (Editor A Sreekar Prasad) was sure about what he wanted.

If our choice did not concur with Duggu's, Nani sir would refuse and explain his reasons.

Duggu never argued.

I was surprised by how dedicated he was.

He was fastidious during the dubbing too and would do breathing exercises before dubbing even a line of dialogue.

It was the first and last time I have seen an actor do that.

Duggu has always been a hard working actor, who will always go the extra mile for a character.

'He sprinted up the stairs, asking me how much money I had'

We had a double premiere for Fiza at Metro and New Excelsior cinemas in Mumbai.

Back then, there was this unspoken tradition in the trade of paying the projectionist before the opening screening or he would screw it up.

I didn't know about this.

When the Piya Haji Ali song came on, the sound quality dipped and it was barely audible.

Duggu immediately understood what was happening.

Taking me along, he sprinted up the stairs, asking me how much money I had on me.

I had around Rs 1,000, he had as much.

Holding onto the money, he burst into the projection room and instructed that the volume be taken up to seven-and-a-half.

As I said, he was no newcomer!

'I had to emotionally tear myself away from Duggu and Karisma'

During the shooting, there was a sense of belonging.

Once Fiza released, I knew we had to move on.

It was difficult and I had to emotionally tear myself away from Duggu and Karisma.

He and I are now in touch only on WhatsApp.

I met him earlier this year at a wedding, the equation had to change naturally, but he was extremely warm and gave me a bear hug.

He's a superstar and the hits have piled up.

Even Fiza, which back then was dismissed as a flop, earned Rs 32 crore (Rs 320 million) on a budget of Rs 7 crore (Rs 70 million).

Yet, several trade and glossy magazines wrote that the film was a disaster and that I had shamed journalists by making it.

They didn't spare Duggu either.

Fortunately, he has moved from strength to strength with big budget, massy films.

I would say he is the finest actor of his generation.

I just wish he had made more medium budget films like Fiza.

I guess his glamour and stardom is so strong that it's difficult for him to pass off as an everyday common man today though I know Duggu can do anything he sets his mind to.

As he turns 50 today, I wish him many more blockbusters and brilliant performances.

Happy birthday, Hrithik.

I have one special word I always say to him, duas.