The actor claimed that his father Rakesh Roshan was averse to starring him in the upcoming movie because he was known for exclusively dealing with big stars. So he went ahead and began hunting for work on his own, recalling how he had asked renowned photographer Daboo Ratnani to take his images and promised to pay him back later.

“My father told me time and time again, ‘I’m not going to make a film for you, you’re on your own’. So, I was doing screen tests, I did a couple of them, I was looking for work. For my photo session, I had no money. I had promised Daboo Ratnani that I will pay him once I start to earn. All of this was going on, and suddenly, I got this offer. And all I knew was that I had to satisfy my director,” Hrithik said, talking about the same.

Hrithik further added, “When he heard that I was doing screen tests, and was getting offers, maybe he sat down one day and thought, ‘Yeh kya ho raha hai (What is this happening), am I losing out?’ That, and he was making a film at that time with Shah Rukh (Khan) or Aamir (Khan) which fell through. And he had another thought, and while he was working on the script of that film with all the writers — and I was a part of this process — some weeks into it, everyone started feeling that this film needs a new boy or new girl. You have seen big stars do these roles, and even I was a part of that, that noise. Even I was like, ‘Yes, papa, I don’t want to see Shah Rukh do this’. And, when this got very repetitive, he said, ‘That’s not what I had in mind, I’m taking you in the film’.”

Hrithik last appeared with Saif Ali Khan and Radhika Apte in Vikram Vedha. He will soon be seen with Deepika Padukone and Anil Kapoor in Siddharth Anand’s action film Fighter, which is set to release in 2024.