His is an Adonis physique with 6-pack abs, enviable pectorals and an undeniably attractive torso. Bollywood re-discovered a robust body in Hrithik Roshan, a space that big bears Sanjay and Salman had carved. Hrithik is one star who walks the macho-mellow tight rope with amazing ease. The Lakshya star traces his journey from scrawny to super bod, his so-called vanity and admits to being unaware of fashion and style…

From scrawny to super bod!

It wasn't long ago when Hrithik was a lean, mild looking guy who wouldn't have merited a second look. Then one fine day he was offered Papa Roshan's film and the light-eyed hero went in for an image overhaul… So drastic that it now gifted Bollywood with probably the best looking actor it has seen. “That's right...”


“I just got six months to shape up…”

…confesses Hrithik. And I had to fix everything right from my hair, to my looks to body. It sounds unrealistic, we indicate. “True, but I was hung on doing the impossible. So everything from my diet to sleep to the water I drink to my workouts came under the scanner,” he recollects. We believe his hair was of the long variety…”Yup. So off went the locks”

Blessed with greek-god looks, Hrithik spent many a awaking hours in the gym to flaunt those biceps. “I agree...I sweated buckets. My body type being thin, I had to build from scratch. When I decided to tone up, I needed guidance. I asked myself who was the best in the business…?”


“Salman has the best bod in town!”

“Salman Khan came the answer. And I must add, he has been a fabulous fitness guide” So, every time you girls swoon over Duggu's rippling biceps, you only have gym-guru Salman to thank. “Absolutely!” Hrithik echoes our thought. Word has it that he used to visit Uday Chopra's house. “That's right, I began workouts at Uday Chopra's, he houses the best gymnasium” Hrithik gushes.

“We are in showbiz & we better have something good to show.
I don't think that's being vain!”

And how does he react to snide remarks that call his love affair with the gym as being vain? “I don't think being particular about your look is being vain. Cinema is a visual medium, so we better have something good to show” he retorts. So far so good, now comes the twister…what happens when he had to knock off 8 lbs for Koi Mil Gaya? “Ah, that wasn't easy. It hurt a bit. I suddenly felt all the sweat & odd hours at the gym that I spent go down the drain” he rues. “But on hindsight, it was worth it” the heartthrob settles.

“Being yourself is always in!”

So what does Hrithik think is his style quotient? I don't know what fashion is?” he throws a googly. “Yeah, all I know is you should be yourself. Being yourself is always in!” Now that is a profound thought, we compliment him. “That's the only thing that appeals to me” the brawny boy goes candid.

“I made the nerd look cool on screen!”

He has sampled his on screen looks quite a bit… “Yeah…see I like to play style simple. Like in Kaho Naa.. Pyaar Hain, I used glasses for the hip Raj. It is normally associated with the nerdy look. But I used it different” he enthuses. That's right, his rimless glasses were indeed quite a fashion fur. “I'll now let out a little secret…” he ups our curiosity.

“Well, those are the same glasses that I used in Koi Mil Gaya that was part of my autistic character” he points out. 'Wow, clever use of the prop' we tell him. Suddenly as if he had got the spark back, he abruptly adds; “My haircut in Lakshya” 'The pine crop…' we enquire “Yes, that somehow helped me get into the skin of Karan Shergill better” he delves.

“I am not a brand hound!”

We now touch upon his off-screen persona? What's he like at home or at a party? “I am a jeans-n-ganji person. I like suits though. It has a nice square fit” he remarks. And is a shopoholic? “No! I am very precise shopper. I don't like to contemplate too much” he strikes off. And is he a brand hound? “Not in the least. I wear Armani because it has a good fit. But that's about it” he coils.

And the lad still wants us to think of him as being a style illiterate…