Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara star, Hrithik Roshan, doesn’t like crying over spilt milk. He witnessed his father Rakesh Roshan stumble as an actor and producer, and survive a gunshot wound, saw his sister battle cancer and undergo brain surgery and sustained divorce from his childhood sweetheart Suzanne Khan. Yet, Hrithik remains undeterred, calling his life trajectory a “fairytale.”
One look at the actor’s washboard abs and chiseled physique in his forthcoming film Bang Bang and you can guess the strenuous gym routines he must’ve followed. The 40-year -old shared the tricks of his trade via an alternate “workout.”
“Mental muscle can only be built in times of adversity, when you’re going through a struggle, pain or are suffering,” he said. Remember, that’s your opportunity. Just as you go to the gym to work out on your body, an adversity is the gym for the mind,” he added.
“That’s the time you have to build your mental muscle by disciplining yourself, by focusing on your actions and by not sitting for more than 10 minutes to think, ‘Why is life so unfair?’ You have to snap out of it,” said the actor, as he gave out his “tools and rules” of living life the way he now does — with focus, discipline and by challenging the impossibilities.
The past year has been a physical, mental and emotional roller-coaster for Hrithik, but tiding over the ups and downs, he has upped the ante for action in Bollywood with Bang Bang, slated for release on Thursday. “What you think is impossible is just the ‘Raavan’ in your mind. You’ll have to kill that demon to focus on other people and contributing to the world.”
The actor, whose Greek god-like looks, flexible dance moves and versatile acting have enthralled Bollywood viewers for almost 15 years now, feels he has found the key to a happy life. “It’s a journey, but once you learn to trick your mind, then you always have the right tools and rules to live by,” said Hrithik. He feels he has a responsibility towards teaching the youth how to face rejection and impossibilities. “Knowing the struggles I’ve been through and looking at where I am today, it’s such a huge paradox that it sounds like a fairytale. It sounds unreal, but since I can do it, I want my children to know that it’s possible,” he said.
Apart from his acting career, he wishes to share his life lessons with the world. “I don’t know how, but I will do it through my brand HRX (active-wear clothing line), in time. I have built this brand and life will show me a way because I will keep on trying,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2014.
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