Happy Birthday Hrithik: Unknown facts about the superstar!

Hrithik Roshan celebrates his 40th birthday today and the year that has gone by, hasn’t been great for the superstar. On the professional front, it’s been great, what with Krrish 3 going on to be the highest grosser of all time. But his personal life hit an all-time low with the actor injuring his head while shooting for an action sequence for his upcoming film ‘Bang Bang’. Even as he was struggling with headaches, news broke out that Hrithik had split with the love of his life Sussanne.

Hrithik celebrates his birthday with his son

From the entire Indicine Team, we wish Hrithik a very happy birthday and hope that the new year brings him peace, happiness and good health.

To celebrate his 40th birthday, we have 25 unknown facts about the superstar.

• Hrithik’s first pay check was Rs 100 which his grandfather J Om Prakash gifted for dancing in the 1980 film Aasha
• Hrithik is known for his perfect dialogue delivery in films, but did you know he had a speech disorder as a child? He used to stammer so badly that he would bunk school during oral tests
• In his own words, the name Hrithik refers to “the purity of the soul that is attained by all those who perform havan. It has a spiritual connotation.”
• Hrithik was the first actor to win both the Filmfare Best Debut and Best Actor award in the same year for his performance in Kaho Na Pyaar Hai
• He was also the first actor to win the Filmfare Best Actor Popular and Critics award for the same film – Koi Mil Gaya in 2003.
• In the year that he made his debut, Hrithik received 30,000 marriage proposals. However, he married Sussanne in the same year.
• At the age of 21, he was diagnosed with scoliosis, a curvature of the back. Doctors had told him that he’d never be able to dance or perform action scenes. Half a decade later, when Kaho Na Pyaar Hai released, he was hailed as the best dancer, actor and action hero of the country!!
• Hrithik loves photography!
• He made his debut in the same year as Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor. The hype in 2000 was clearly with the Kapoor and Bachchan scions, but they were completely out shined by Hrithik’s spectacular debut.
• Hrithik’s best friend in the industry is Uday Chopra.
• Rakesh Roshan had initially approached Shahrukh Khan to play the lead in Kaho Na Pyaar Hai, but later decided to cast his son Hrithik. The rest is history.
• Hrithik has lent his voice to songs in two films – Kites and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.
• He was the first choice to play Akshaye Khanna’s role in Dil Chahta Hai.
• He was also the first choice for the Don remake (later went to Shahrukh), play Sidharth’s character in Rang De Basanti and Shahrukh’s role in Swades.
• Hrithik quit smoking after reading Allen Carr’s Easy way to Stop Smoking – a book that he gifted to quite a few of his friends in the industry
• Hrithik is actively involved in charity. In fact, he has gifted several school buses and funded surgeries for heart patients.
• He has launched his own fashion brand called HRx
• Hrithik’s debut film KNPH entered the Limca Book of Records for winning the most number of awards won by any Bollywood film – a total of 102 awards.
• His nickname Duggu was given to him by his grandmother.
• He appeared in the remake of Amitabh Bachchan’s Agneepath, which was a failure when it released in 1990. However, the remake was a super hit at the box office.
• Hrithik’s leading lady in KNPH was supposed to be Kareena Kapoor! However, things didn’t work out and Ameesha Patel was signed.
• Hrithik has co-starred with Kareena in the most number of films – total of 4. None of them worked, except Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. The duo will return more than 12 years later in 2015’s Shuddhi.
• He was the assistant director in films like Karan Arjun and Koyla.
• The title of Yash Chopra’s Darr starring Shahrukh Khan was suggested by Hrithik – Read Full Story
• Hrithik was the 5th Indian celebrity to be immortalised at the Madame Tussauds – after Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan.

Once again, Happy Birthday Hrithik. Hope you have a great year ahead.