When Hrithik Roshan wanted to quit films after his father Rakesh Roshan was shot

On that unfateful day of January 21, 2001, filmmaker Rakesh Roshan was shot with two bullets in his arm and chest by gangster Abu Salem’s gang members. Apparently, post the success of ‘Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai’, Abu Salem had demanded a share of profits from the overseas collection, which Rakesh Roshan refused. Thus, he sent two of his gang mates to shoot Roshan Senior. However, call it God’s grace or sheer luck, he defeated death and survived the dangerous incident. Eventually, the attackers were caught. However, one cannot forget the disturbing incident which shook up Bollywood.

So, in an interview with Simi Garewal, in the early phase of his career, Hrithik Roshan spoke about the disturbing incident which actually had him on the verge of quitting Bollywood, just after a blockbuster debut. He said in the interview, “From shock to anger to seeing dad there on the hospital bed, it was like I had never seem him like this. Basically, I just wanted to quit. I really wanted to just quit films. Because I knew it was directly or indirectly responsible of what had happened to him and nothing was worth it. So, I just wanted to quit and sometimes I think that I should have. Because it’s very disillusional. Maybe it goes from bad to worse.”

He further said, “I know I had that chance then and I didn’t take the first step. So, I can’t hold anybody else responsible for not doing anything about it. I didn’t do anything about it.” A surprised Simi immediately asked him if he would have appreciated the same, had his father been the one to make the choice of quitting, post this ordeal. To which he replied, “Now you ask me what I went through, this is what I went through, that’s what I wanted to do. But, as you can see I did not quit, so I did it your way.” Simi even went on to ask him as to what would have been the scenario, had this unfortunate incident not taken place. Hrithik said that things would have been different as he would have enjoyed the success of his debut movie then. He had told people that he would wait for a week after the release of his movie and then read through the reviews. He was waiting for the Saturday, but sadly, a day before, his dad was shot. So for him it was a dream-come-true moment to see his movie become a superhit but call it the cruelty of fate, it coincided with a nightmarish incident. Such is life! (Also Read: Hrithik lauds sister Sunaina’s amusing physical transformation)

It was a miracle of sorts that his father survived those bullets and emerged victorious. Also, Hrithik’s stardom kept on increasing and today he is one of the most successful actors in the industry.

Check out the full interview of Hrithik Roshan here:

Prajakta Ajgaonkar

Passionate about writing, and a Bollywood lover, she is all that is sweet and endearing! She desires to put her best foot forward in everything that she does and loves to help anyone who’s in need.