Hrithik Roshan made a grand entry into Bollywood with ‘Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai’ in 2000, alongside Ameesha Patel. The romantic drama became a huge blockbuster, instantly making him one of the biggest stars in the country. Even before the film hit theatres, Hrithik was already shooting for his next film, ‘Fiza’.The film, directed by Khalid Mohamed, also released in the same year and starred Karisma Kapoor, Jaya Bachchan, Manoj Bajpayee, Bikram Saluja, and Isha Koppikar. Among the supporting cast was Anup Soni, who recently shared his memories of shooting with Hrithik.
Anup Soni recalled filming before Hrithik Roshan’s fame
In an interview with Bollywood Bubble, Anup Soni said, “Hrithik Roshan ki tab tak Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai bhi release nahi hui thi. (By that time, Hrithik Roshan’s ‘Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai’ had not been released yet.)”He added that he shot his scenes in two parts, one before Hrithik became a star and another after the film released. He further explained, “Maine is film ke liye Fiza mein do baar shooting ki hai, matlab do segments mein ki hai. Ek pre-Hrithik becoming a star aur ek post-Hrithik becoming a star. (I shot for ‘Fiza’ twice, meaning in two segments. One was pre-Hrithik becoming a star and one post-Hrithik becoming a star.)”
Anup Soni described major changes on set
Anup revealed how the shooting environment changed drastically after Hrithik became a star. “Arey bahut, bahut zabardast! Production quality mein hi ekdum antar tha. Dekhiye, pre-Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai ke time par, Seven Bungalows mein ek bungalow hai jahan shooting hoti thi. Toh usmein main aur Hrithik Roshan gaadi ke bonnet pe baith kar makeup karte the. (Oh, it was very, very amazing! There was a complete difference in production quality. You see, before ‘Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai’, there was a bungalow in Seven Bungalows where the shooting happened. Hrithik Roshan and I used to sit on the car bonnet to get our makeup done.”
Star status brought luxury and vanity van
Anup continued, “Hrithik ka personal makeup man aata tha, lekin jaise hi Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai release hui, Hrithik ke liye alag se badi vanity van aani shuru ho gayi thi. (Hrithik had his personal makeup man, but as soon as ‘Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai’ released, a big separate vanity van started arriving for him.)”He recalled that during the shoot at a bungalow used to represent Jaya Bachchan’s house, “tab tak vanity maine nahi dekhi thi. Matlab maine aur usne gaadi ke bonnet pe baith kar makeup kiya hai us film mein. (But as far as I remember, we were shooting in that bungalow in Seven Bungalows, which was shown as Jaya ji’s house, and I hadn’t seen a vanity van yet. Meaning, Hrithik and I actually sat on the car bonnet to get our makeup done in that film.)”
Hrithik Roshan on the work front
Over two decades later, Hrithik Roshan remains one of Bollywood’s top stars. He was last seen in ‘WAR 2’, sharing screen space with Jr NTR and Kiara Advani.
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