Sunaina Roshan on her brother Hrithik Roshan
Sunaina Roshan on her brother Hrithik Roshan
Elder sis Sunaina Roshan shares a big buddy bond with her younger brother Hrithik, whom she fondly calls Duggu. Surprisingly, she was the mischief maker and Hrithik was the introvert. Here Sunaina tells us how she played cupid when her brother dated Suzanne and what it was like watching him grow into one of the finest actors that the country has today. Here's Hrithik Roshan in his sisters words:
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"I give Duggu 20 on 10 as a brother, son, husband and father."
"I am two years older to Duggu. Having been close to Duggu all my life, I would give him 20 on 10 as a brother, son, husband and father.u00a0 He has been great in all his roles. We share a great understanding and he has been a very good brother to me. In fact, sometimes, he amazes me because he is so perfect in everything.''
"As kids, Duggu and I fought like cats and dogs."
"As a kid, of course, I did not find him perfect. Duggu and I fought like cats and dogs when we were young. I would pull his hair and he would pull mine. He would hit me real hard; so hard sometimes that it would leave scars. I wore spectacles as a child and my mom had to get me a new pair of glasses almost every other week.
My mom would see us fight and start crying. She was a single child so she didn't know that siblings could fight so badly.
"Between Duggu and me, I was the naughtier one while growing up. My father always said, 'You should have been a boy and Duggu a girl'. I am an extrovert, I love to go out. Everyone thinks that I am my dad's twin. I am a fighter like him.
"Like Duggu, I too went to Bombay Scottish school. I was there for two years, and all his friends became my friends. We had many common friends like Uday Chopra. Mom and dad were great friends with Jeetu uncle and Prem Chopra. They would plan outings with all the kids. I was very close to Ameesha Patel and now I am reasonably close to Barbara Mori.
"Suzanne was the first girl Hrithik ever dated."
"Despite being younger to me, Duggu was bossy and protective about me. I grew up fast while he was a very shy teenager. The minute Duggu would catch me talking to a guy, he would blackmail me: 'If you don't do this, I will tell mom and dad'. I had to do as he said. When I was 17, RG's was a rocking discotheque and I asked my dad for permission to go there. My dad said, 'I will let you go if your brother accompanies you'. So I begged, 'Duggu, can we please go?' I began asking him from the afternoon itself but he remained noncommittal, saying, 'I will see'. He kept me in suspense till 9 o'clock in the night before finally saying, 'Okay, let's go.' At the disc, his eye was always on me protectively. And midnight was our deadlineu00a0- come what may.
"I came to know about Duggu and Suzanne's affair only after two years of their going around. When I was pregnant in the mid-'90s and Duggu was helping dad on the outdoor shoot of Koyla, he would call me: 'Didi, please make a conference call to Suzanne; dad is around and I can't really talk.' That's the time Duggu and I became very close. Suzanne was the first girl he ever dated. I would have killed Duggu if he hadn't married Suzanne. She is the sweetest friend I have.
"When Duggu and Suzanne spoke to each other's parents and expressed a desire to get married, I told Suzanne 'You are not my sister in law. You are my sister and my best friend'. We may fight but we know that we love each other so in 10 minutes the fight is over. Duggu doesn't even come to know that there was a misunderstanding. The good thing about our family is that we don't bring the men into the picture in these matters.
"I am learning how to be a good wife from Suzanne, especially how to deal with a husband who is short tempered, in case I get married tomorrow.
"He started going to Roshan Taneja's acting classes without telling any one of us."
"Duggu was a fab(ulous) dancer right from childhood. Michael Jackson was his inspiration so he would always try and copy the steps. From the time he was six-seven, he knew that he wanted to become an actor. My dad tried to dissuade him and encouraged him to study. But Hrithik was adamant about wanting to become an actor. He started going to Roshan Taneja's acting classes without telling any one of us. He made a tape in which he had enacted a Raj Kapoor scene and showed it to my mom. Mom's eyes welled up with tears.
"I think he will be directing a movie soon. He will make a very good director. He was an Assistant Director with dad for almost four-five years before he joined movies. Even now, he sits for the editing of all my dad's films and is very involved in the directorial aspects of film-making.
"He wouldn't go for a party till he had finished his gym."
"His success is due to his hard work. My room was bang opposite his room in the old house. I remember he wouldn't go for a party till he had finished his gym. Even now it's the same. He sometimes asks Suzanne to go ahead for a party and tells her that he will join her after he has finished with his gym.u00a0
"After Dhoom 2, I think a lot of girls find him hot.
"Hrithik stood by me like a rock when I had cancer."
Hrithik and my parents have been my strongest support when I was battling cancer. I saw my dad and my brother crying and I knew that all four of them would be broken so I had to be the strong one. I was completely shaken when I had to shave off my long hair. But I enjoyed my cancer days a lot because I was pampered to the hilt. A lot of outsiders feel that I have been spoilt with money; I have been spoilt, yes, but with love, not money. All four of them just want to see me happy in whatever way possible.
"Since we live in the same house, the bonding is much stronger. Duggu doesn't confide into me, as much as I confide in him and Suzanne. When I am having a problem in a relationship, I want a guy's point of view so I go to Hrithik
"Duggu wants me to get married because he knows it's my dream to get married again.
Duggu tells me, 'You have become like a semi-guru to me.'
"Raksha Bandhan is definitely a most important occasion because my brother and I share a very strong bond. Duggu nowadays has started relying a lot on my prayers because I have lot of faith in Bhagwan. If he is going through a tough time he messages me, 'Didi, please pray for me.' He tells me, 'You have become like a semi-guru to me.'
"He calls me for all his trials because he knows I will give him an honest opinion. He trusts my advice because he knows I am very blunt.
"Duggu and Suzanne love my daughter to death. She is in awe of Duggu."
"The best gift Duggu and Suzanne have given me is their two kids. They are my darlings. I have to meet them everyday even if it's for five minutes.u00a0 Duggu and Suzanne love my daughter to death. She is in awe of Duggu.
She is so fond of Suzanne that she would rather go out with her than with her mom. There was a time she would want to dress up like Suzanne.
u00a0
"The Barbara Mori link-up is a pure lie."
"While we were shooting for Kites at Filmistan studios, Duggu had to hit a glass pane with a plank. The glass was a regular one, not sugar glass. I was behind the monitor and heard him screaming 'F###'. I thought he was screaming 'Cut'. But I realised something was amiss when I saw an AD rushing towards him -- Duggu had cut his hand. I panicked but before I knew anything, people had rushed him to the hospital. I was crying non-stop. My friend told me not to tell dad because he would panic. But I just called my dad and casually asked, 'Papa, which hospital is Duggu in?' Dad was like: "Why is he in the hospital?' I am happy that I spoke to my dad because Hrithik was planning to head for Lilavati but dad called up Tina Ambani and he was rushed to Kokilaben hospital, which is much closer to Filmistan.
"Once he was fine, I joked with Duggu: 'Every time you have an accident be it Krrish or Jodha Akbar, the film has become a major hit'. He retorted impishly, 'Kites better be the biggest hit because this time I have really hurt myself badly.'
"The link-up (with Barbara Mori) is a pure lie. I am upset that people write about it. Why is he being singled out? He has been working so hard all these years."