How the pandemic influenced stars—Part 3: Hrithik Roshan

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The pandemic since early 2020 has dealt the final blow to the concept of “star” and “superstar” as we know it. It has rewritten the entire story. Like with television in the past, the OTT platform has invaded us all, come movies or series. Many a star now does a web series, whether as a mere producer or even actor. Most of them find the avenue not only lucrative but also creatively fulfilling. Then there are the films that release, due to assorted compulsions, on OTT platforms.

As the (triple) Khan wave seems past its peak, Hrithik Roshan, now 22 years old as a leading man, is growing. This is the third part of a series that looks at how the big stars downwards have been influenced and affected in the last two years of lack of normalcy in viewing movies.

Hrithik Roshan:

Hrithik Roshan’s last two films, Super 30 and War, did well and very well respectively in 2019, and the always choosy Hrithik has had no release since, though the pandemic was not responsible, really. Krrish 4 was announced, but is yet to get going.

There was speculation about War 2, but the only films now coming up with him are the remake of Vikram Vedha with Saif Ali Khan and Radhika Apte, and Siddharth Anand’s third film with him after Bang Bang! and War, Fighter, also his first with Deepika Padukone, which also stars Anil Kapoor. The latter will release in 2023. Both movies are action dramas, though the former has a strong current of emotions as well.

In 22 years, very interestingly, Hrithik has done a mere 22 films as a leading man. Among them, the films that have catapulted him into the top six bracket are his father Rakesh Roshan’s five films Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai (his 2000 debut as a leading man), Koi…Mil Gaya, Krrish, Krrish 3 and Kaabil, as also Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham…, Dhoom:2, Agneepath and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara apart from War. He has had massive flops like Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon, Lakshya, Guzaarish and Mohenjo Daro as well, but they have been vastly overshadowed by his hits. Moreover, especially in Lakshya and Guzaarish, Hrithik has been very much appreciated for his work.

Hrithik has also learnt from his mistakes faster than even Aamir Khan did in the latter’s first decade: after 10 films in the first four years of his debut, six of which went nowhere, and how the creative investment on the part of his father and Hrithik himself paid rich dividends in Koi…Mil Gaya (2003), he wisely decided to go selective, though he did make a few errors of judgment after that as well.

The actor has yet to enter the OTT space, though there was buzz sometime ago that he would soon do so. The day that happens, the series will have to be mounted on a massive scale to match his stardom.

And as none of his films were stalled, or even happened to be complete but unreleased during this long phase, Hrithik Roshan can be said to be one hero who has not at all been affected by the pandemic!