Hrithik Roshan is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood films. After having appeared in films as a child actor in the 1980s, Roshan made his film debut in a leading role in Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000) for which Roshan earned his Filmfare Awards for Best Actor and Best Male Debut. In 2001, he went on to appear in the melodrama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, which became India's highest-grossing film in the overseas market and his biggest commercial success to date. Following through with several unnoticed performances from 2002-03, he starred in the commercially successful Koi... Mil Gaya and its sequel Krrish, both of which won him numerous Best Actor awards. Roshan received his third Filmfare Award for Best Actor in 2006 for his performance in the action film Dhoom 2. He later received critical acclaim for his performance in Jodhaa Akbar, for which he received his first international award at the Golden Minbar International Film Festival. These accomplishments have established him as a leading contemporary actor of Hindi cinema.

Often described as India's 'most complete actor', Hrithik Roshan is the culmination of old Hindi film industry from both sides of his pedigree.

His maternal grandfather - director-producer J. Om Prakash - first introduced little Hrithik onscreen at age 6 by slyly having his crew shoot without the boy's knowledge as he danced on the set of Aasha (1980) while visiting grandpa. J. Om Prakash later gave young Hrithik his only actual speaking role as a child, directing him in the key role of Rajnikanth's adopted son in Bhagwaan Dada (1986).

Paternal grandfather Roshan Lal Nagrath - the original "Roshan" - was a gifted classical musician and famous composer who as music director in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s helped define the emerging Bollywood film song. He died before Hrithik was born. But even Hrithik's grandmother - variously credited as "Ira Nagrath" and "Ira Roshan" - is herself a musician-composer who completed her husband's films at Roshan's death and continued for many years as assistant music director on her son's projects - Hrithik's uncle, multiple Filmfare Award winning composer Rajesh Roshan.

Hrithik's father - Rakesh Roshan - entered the film industry as an assistant to J. Om Prakash before shifting to actor, a successful leading man in such films as Khubsoorat (1980). Rakesh later organised the family film company, FilmKraft Productions (India) Pvt. Ltd., first as producer and later director.

Meanwhile Hrithik graduated from Mumbai's prestigious Bombay Scottish School and took a Bachelor of Commerce degree first class from Sydenham College. He turned down a UCLA master's degree scholarship to enter films. To learn the craft of film from the ground up, from Khel (1992) through Koyla (1997) Hrithik toiled as a largely uncredited assistant on the family's film projects, gradually progressing from such unglamourous tasks as set-sweeping, tea-fetching, or clapper-loading up to a major role in story development, camera, direction, and editing. All the while Hrithik studied acting, dance, martial arts, and even bodybuilding (having always been hopelessly thin) to prepare himself to become a film actor.

14 January 2000: Hrithik Roshan's resultant debut film, Kaho Naa ... Pyaar Hai, not only firmly established Hrithik as dramatic hero, romantic hero, and action hero, but actually revolutionised the Hindi film industry in significant ways.

Through unparallelled work ethic and sheer honesty, talent, and commitment as an actor, Hrithik has parlayed the natural gift of symmetrical features and a tall athletic frame into hitherto unimaginable standards. He effectively redefined the Hindi film hero. Short, fat, ugly guys no longer need apply. Likewise, actors with limited dramatic range, or those lacking commitment to work. Lead actors would now have to act and dance and fight for themselves as never before. Existing stars either adapted to the new standard, as Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan did, or went into decline, such as Govinda.

In the years since Kaho Naa ... Pyaar Hai Hrithik has never looked back, always continually pushing himself in new directions. Thus he has achieved critical, commercial, and award-winning success with roles as diverse as a charming but braindamaged child-adult, Koi ... Mil Gaya (2003), an enigmatic master thief, Dhoom 2 (2006), a quadriplegic, Guzaarish (2010), India's first film superhero, Krrish (2006), and even the moghul emperor Akbar the Great himself, Jodhaa Akbar (2008).

Hrithik married his childhood sweetheart and longtime girlfriend, successful interior designer and businesswoman Sussanne Khan (herself from a Hindi film clan), in December 2000. They have two sons: Hrehaan, born 2006, and Hridaan, born 2008.

Son of Rakesh Roshan.

Was catapulted overnight to instant superstardom with debut hit film Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000).

Has two thumbs on his right hand that are grown together.

Has a sister called Sunaina.

Made stubbles fashionable in India.

Excellent dancer.

The country wide hysteria following the release of his first film Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000) is known as hrithikmania and lasted for 1 year only as his films bombed from 2001-2004. The hysteria was similar but lesser in comparison to Rajesh Khanna hysteria in 1969-1976 period.

The look of his muscular, chiselled body started a fitness boom in India.

Often supports charities of various kinds.

Known as a perfectionist and control freak. Believes in extensive rehearsals and preparations.

Friend of Salman Khan who showed him how to work out and eat properly to put on muscle.

Hindi megastar.

Often visits terminally ill children in hospitals that desperately wish to meet him.

Role models are Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna and Sanjeev Kumar.

Wanted to quit the film business altogether after his father Rakesh Roshan was shot at and wounded by hitmen sent by the Bollywood mafia, but changed his mind.

Prepared himself extensively for his screen debut, taking acting, singing, dancing, fencing, riding etc. lessons for years. He also worked hard on his diction and physical appearance (strenuous workout routines).

Fought hard to overcome a stammering problem.

Worked for many years on the sets of his father Rakesh Roshan in various functions, including sweeping the floor and serving tea to the stars, to learn the business from scratch.

Believes in the good in every person, a character trait often misinterpreted by others as gullibility and/or naïvety.

Got 30000 (!) marriage proposals on Valentine's day 2000.

Was the victim of a defamation campaign in late december 2000. Rumors were spread that he stated in an interview that he hates Nepal and its people. This immediately led to riots in Nepal, cinemas showing his films were attacked, posters burnt, Hindi movies banned in general for some days and several people shot dead by the police. The events made headlines all over the world and the governments of Indian and Nepal got involved as well. Anti Indian/Hrithik sentiment died down quickly when it became clear that the alleged statements were a fabrication and the rumors were spread by a malicious third party, possibly the Bollywood mafia, still pissed about not getting the foreign rights to Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000). Nepal born actress Manisha Koirala played an important role in getting the news to the people in Nepal that the accusations were false.

In January 2001 Hrithik Roshan was again involved in a controversy. This time about a poster created and used by the Democratic Alliance in South Africa in November 2000 to woo Indian voters. The poster used his face without permission. The ANC reacted angrily and threatened to ban his films.

Occasionally smokes cigarettes

His total income from product endorsements in 2000 is estimated to be 20 crore Rupees (~5 million $), by far the most among Bollywood stars.

Was awarded the "National Citizen's Award" on August 25 2001 in Delhi. The award recognises excellence in various activities affecting national life.

Son-in-law of Sanjay Khan.

Has been called the first complete Bollywood actor who has no weakness and scores very high in every department: face, physique, voice, dancing, drama, romance, action, comedy, macho, softie...

Can't handle money. His wife and parents are taking care of the financial details.

On January 14 2000 Hrithik Roshan entered a cinema to attend the premiere of his first film Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000). When he came in some people recognised him but not much happened. When the film was over there was a stampede and mass hysteria broke out. He got mobbed. The police had to come and escort him out of the cinema and away from a crowd of thousands. It was the first day of Hrithikmania in India, which held the country in its grip for many months to come.

Learnt Urdu to sound more eloquent in his films, this can be seen by the special reference to his ability with the language in the film Kaho Na Pyaar Hai

Came in on number 9 on a Bollywood power list released in December 2003, and on number 4 among actors (behind Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan).

Was diagnosed at age 21 with scoliosis and told he could never be an actor, dance and do all the things a Bollywood hero needs to do.

Hrithik has been documenting his daily life for many years by taking pictures and putting them in scrapbooks.

Hrithik Roshan and wife Sussanne became parents of a baby boy, named Hrehaan Roshan, on March 28, 2006 at 3:30 pm at Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai.

Hrithik's normal weight is 72kg. He adds to it or reduces it as the role requires. For Krrish (2006) he added ~6kg muscle, for parts of Koi... Mil Gaya (2003) he lost several kilos to look more childlike.

Very close friends with actress Preity Zinta, who is also a good friend of his wife 'Suzanne Khan'. Hrithik and Preity have worked together in three movies.

Wife Sussanne Khan gave birth to the couples second child, a son Hridhaan on May 1, 2008.

Brother in law of Zayed Khan.

He is of Punjabi descent.

Related to Mumtaz. through marriage to Suzanne Khan.

On 20 Jan 2011, Hrithik Roshan became the youngest male and fifth Bollywood actor -- the others are Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Salman Khan -- enshrined at Madame Tussaud's wax museum in London. Described by Madame Tussaud's as 'one of the most daring figures we have ever created', Mr Roshan is portrayed bare-chested as Aryan from "Dhoom 2". The statue required 4 months to make at a cost of £150,000.

Came in on number 4 on the Filmfare Bollywood power list in January 2007.

Director-producer J. Om Prakash managed to include into his film Aasha (1980) the first screen appearance of his grandson -- future Hindi film superstar Hrithik Roshan, then aged only 6 -- by having his crew shoot without the boy's knowledge, as he danced on the set while visiting grandpa. Hrithik was later "paid" with INR 100 (around US$ 2) worth of chocolates and miniature toy cars.

As an adult whose successful acting career was only possible thanks to long years of speech therapy to overcome a crippling childhood stammer, in 2009 Hrithik inaugurated an upgraded Audiology & Speech Therapy department at the same hospital which had helped him. He also donated INR 2,000,000 (20 lakhs) in the memory of his grandmother Ira Roshan.

(November 2000): "I take all this hysteria as a compliment."

(2000): "I am glad I have the intelligence to understand what is happening to me. If I allow myself to get affected by all this hype, I'll stunt my growth as an actor and be damned for life. I know that I still have a long way to go before I can even aspire to equal the achievements of any of the superstars. I know I am good at my job, and I am sure I will be damn good one day but right now, I also know how bad I can be."

(November 2000): "I have been elevated to such a high status that the fall will be very steep."

(December 2000): "Every once a week, I get up and feel that I cannot act any more. I just get very unsure of myself. But, once I give my first shot, I'm back on track. Insecurity isn't bad, it makes me work harder."

(December 2000): "Some day I want to be better than Shah Rukh Khan. And I will be better than him, if I continue working the way I am. Some day, I would like to achieve more than what Shahrukh has achieved in his ten years. But first, give me my ten years of time."

(February 2001): "Every moment of my life, I live under threat. I have two gunmen with me. If I die now I will be immortal. Everything finished in a year. I will be a legend!"

(July 2001): "I thought of every possible angle which would drive me towards stardom. But I never thought of, when I become a star, what will I do, how will I handle it. Everything has hit me all at once. I realize I don't have the talent to handle it."

(July 2001): "Hollywood is definitely happening to me but right now I'm not happening for Hollywood. Maybe if offers still last by 2005 I will. I'm committed until then."

(2001): I make the best Spanish omelettes in the world, but I won't tell you the recipe!

(March 2002): "I can be the best James Bond there is."

(March 2000): I can never wear the same shirt twice because it's always torn by the time I come home!

(June 2002): I won't do a film with any film-maker unless he gives me a bound script... My date diary's blank from 2003 onwards.

(2000, when asked about his fantasy woman): "Gabrielle Anwar. I had a huge crush on her for ever so long. Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). I thought she was really hot!"

(December 2002): "After two years of being in films I've realized that I don't need to do movies just for the sake of it. Now I will not do a film unless the role is to die for. It may sound preposterous but I'd also like to do something like 'Spiderman' or 'A Beautiful Mind'. Only such cinema stimulates me. I don't want to do the routine stuff."

(July 2003): "It's not a prerequisite for an actor to be obsessed about his looks. I know there are people who don't look in the mirror at all and I'm getting there."

(July 2003): "I've never had a decent haircut except the short one I'm sporting right now for "Lakshya"."

(July 2003): "I'm not religious. I don't visit temples. But I hope there is a superpower."

(July 2003): "Of course I'm curious about porn. It exists because there is a market for it. It needs to exist but it should be properly channelised. It shouldn't be accessible to everyone."

(July 2003): "My physique is all wrong. I'd like to change everything about my looks."

(July 2003): "Quite often I feel that there is no God. War, natural calamities, handicaps, suffering. When I see all this, I fear there's no God. And the thought scares me shitless."

I'm a child myself. So how can I think of having one right now!

(September 2003): I'm above hits and flops now. I wish to go down in the annals of Indian cinema history as a good actor.

(January 2004): I don't know fashion and I have no taste.

(January 2004): I've scrapped my entire working style and taken on a new approach. The release of Lakshya (2004) will prove whether the new approach is right or not. If it doesn't work I'll go back to the old mode of working. If it works, I'll be adopting this style in all my roles.

(2004): I would like to meet the person who shot my father.

(July 2004): I am the person I am today primarily due to the fine example set by both my parents.

(July 2004): I've done films without optimum excitement. It didn't work. I can afford to take my time now.

(July 2004): "Lakshya" is my most subtle performance. "Koi... Mil Gaya" was an in-your-face performance.

(July 2004): I've done various films for various wrong reasons. They didn't get me anywhere.

(August 2004): I am a complete 'foodie'. It's in the genes. I can't stop eating! It's only that I fear of the world finding out that I have a bad body which makes me strive to have my diet in place and exercise right.

(February 2006): I'm just a student who is still learning, so I can't give discourses on acting.

(February 2006): My big dream is to take our cinema to a world platform. The idea of acting in a Jackie Chan film doesn't excite me. That's betrayal.

(July 2006): One mistake we always make is to ape the West. We attempt films that we think they will like. The true crossover films areCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2003) (VG) and Life Is Beautiful (2000), where the director goes entirely by his conviction, culture, community and conditioning. I am hoping, not just for me and my father and family, but for Indian cinema that Krrish (2006) will succeed, so we can envision an even bigger extravaganza. We want to afford that freedom to take our cinema higher. I believe we are very close now to getting noticed on a world platform.

I was always the pet of my teachers in school probably because I was considered to be very cute. Because of my innocent looks I usually got away with a lot of mischief. I was spoilt and pampered by everyone. All I had to do was sport a lost-boy look and I would have things my way. At home too, if I wasn't given something I wanted, I would simply sit with a long face till I got it.

On his first villain role in Dhoom:2 (2006): "I've played the good guy long enough. Now it's time for me to get seriously evil. I always wanted to play a cool villain. And since the bad guy in Dhoom:2 (2006) is multi-dimensional, playing this nightmarish guy is a dream come true".

(December 2006): If someone pretends not to recognize me, then he needs to get a life.

On his infamous kiss with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Dhoom:2 (2006): "I did give it a lot of thought. There was enough reason and inspiration here to go ahead. I tried to make it as beautiful as possible. And I stand by it completely" (April 2007).

I have met quite a few quadriplegic patients and their families (while researching his role for [i]Guzaarish[/i]). There is a lot of pain and suffering that they go through. The extent of that we can never really understand. But what is amazing is that, though they have all these problems in their lives, never is there one moment when they are not smiling. And that is a lesson that I think is a gift that I received from them, and a gift that I think you all will receive from this movie.

They say that many people come in your life, but some leave a footprint on your heart after which your life is never the same again. For me it is not a person, it is a movie. [i]Guzaarish[/i] has changed the way I see the world. It has given a whole new perspective to my life.

(November 2010): [Guzaarish] teaches you how to truly Live and enjoy and be happy -- wherever you are, whoever you are, with whatever problems you have.

(November 2010): This movie [Guzaarish] didn't just help me grow as an actor, it made me grow as a person. And I can't thank Sanjay Leela Bhansali enough for that.

(June 2010 - Q: "Don't you perceive [when dancing] that you are doing something that is really special?") It's not that I am the best dancer, but it looks good when I dance because I have these really narrow feet and my centre of gravity is really high, which gives the illusion of tipping over, an illusion that makes every step look better when I do it. That's the only way I can analyse it.

(June 2010 -- Q on dance and acting) I am an actor and dance is one of the things I do, one of the expressions of my acting. Like sometimes I have a tear in my eye, sometimes I say fast dialogues, sometimes I jump off buildings, and sometimes I dance. If one expression is appreciated more than the other, then that's somebody's point of view. I don't consider dance my forte. I do it like I do everything else -- struggle to make it my best.

(July 2011) I believe that if you're going to risk your life and jump off a building, you bloody well should make it look convincing. Unless you are honest during moments of physical intimacy, you will appear uncomfortable and guilty on screen. When you see the lead pair in an English movie kissing, it's rarely offensive or 'a bit much'. That's because of the conviction in their performance.

(July 2011) My last proper vacation was in 2003. I need another.

[February 2008 - describing his character Akbar's relationship with his empress, Jodhaa] His first attraction is not one of love or lust or one of those. Somewhere I think he believes in her strength, her strength as an individual.

[July 2012 - honored with his wife, businesswoman Sussanne Khan Roshan, as 'India's premier power couple'] The whole idea of two people being one and loving as one is all wrong. You have to accept the other person as an individual and love each other as two individuals. Stand apart and love. Be unafraid to give and receive love as an individual.

[recalling, in 2009 as an adult and successful actor, his childhood battle to overcome a crippling stammer] I suffered with a speech problem, and it took me a long, long, long time. It's been the hardest kind of struggle for someone who wants to be an actor. But I got the help at the right time, and now I'm -- here. So miracles do happen! I want to tell all the families out there, the children who are struggling and living without hope, to just believe enough -- and look at me. You can change your life!