20 years of Koi... Mil Gaya: Hrithik Roshan reveals his childhood trauma helped him play Rohit in the film

Hrithik Roshan. Pic/ Google

It's been good long twenty years since Hrithik Roshan's Koi... Mil Gaya hit the screens. The film received immense love from the audiences, making the character Rohit and his alien friend Jaadoo truly iconic in Hindi cinema for years to come. Co-starring Preity Zinta and Rekha in key roles, Koi... Mil Gaya was released on August 8, 2003, and became a massive box-office success. A sci-fi musical, yet a family entertainer, the film was helmed by Rakesh Roshan and is considered one of Hrithik Roshan's career-defining performances. Looking back at his journey and talking about the film, Hrithik recently spoke to Film Companion and shared various incidents that helped him get into the skin of this character.

In his chat, Hrithik revealed how actor Anil Kapoor convinced his dad Rakesh Roshan to make Koi... Mil Gaya. He said, "I remember talking to my dad's very good friend and colleague Mr. Anil Kapoor, I went and begged him. First I asked what he thought of this concept that Dad was now rejecting. He said he absolutely loved it and I said, oh this is my chance. I'm begging him to convince my dad to make this and I think he could see it in my eyes. He could see the sense of loss and how heartbreaking it would have been if he had not made this. I think he had a conversation with my dad and I entered that conversation and within that, I saw my dad's eyes light up, something lit up inside him. When he takes a decision, then I can tell when it is now unbreakable. Now he had lived through the risks and possibilities of failure and then when he said, ‘Chalo let's do it', then I knew now it's unbreakable."

Next, when asked about his process and what it took to get into the character of Rohit, the actor revealed how his childhood trauma helped him portray this role. Hrithik revealed, "I experienced being bullied, having a stutter which was a handicap and was made fun of, people laughed and so I understood I had emotional intelligence about that. I could apply that. I was fortunate. I knew I had the heart of Rohit, so half the battle was won, then came in the craft. I think Rohit was just there in me, a part of me didn't grow up. I think the traumatized part of me remained a child, remained that vulnerable and that's the part I usually go to when I've to be emotional. It's that part that gets activated, so seeing that in a positive way. When you connect the dots, the things that you go through, they will all become your resource at some point and that's what happened with me."

Being a method actor never came easy for the star, especially as he started out as an actor two decades ago. In his conversation, Hrithik shared how he was mocked by industry insiders for being a method. He told, "People made me feel so embarrassed about it. I'm glad that we are more open now to actors having a process. People I admire, and respect made fun of the fact that I'm so crazy about the method and ‘pagal go gaya hai, kya zaruat hai, it's just acting, go there and say your lines and act it'. I was like I'm not that good an actor, I need to do my process. I need to look at it far more times. There's another process also which is delightful, it's a learning, an education, its unlearning and a lot of fun. The process by itself is so much fun."

A true blue superhero, Hrithik had some good news for millions of his fans as he shared an update on the long-awaited ‘Krrish 4'. He shared, "It's right where it needs to be. I'm extremely excited. I don't know how it's going to be made because it's seeming like you need ten hands to put it all together. Everyday it's just growing bigger. I'm very excited and it's happening, soon we will manifest and get what we need to make this film go on floors."

Lastly, Hrithik signed off by mentioning how Koi... Mil Gaya has been such a special film for him. He added, "I'm extremely proud of the film, I saw tears in the eyes of my kids, so yes the emotion lands and that's the beauty of the film. It's so relieving, as actors you really can just be and feel, and not be afraid."