EXCLUSIVE | Netflix's The Roshans: Rakesh Roshan on Shah Rukh Khan's 'couldn't relate to Karan Arjun story' comment: 'After few years, he made Om Shanti Om, which was...'

The Roshans is indeed a nostalgic story of not only success but immense struggle that went behind it. This four –part docuseries starts with Roshan Lal Nagrath and his journey coming to Mumbai from Gujranwala, Pakistan, in 1948 via Delhi for the love of music as he wanted to make a career in this field. For him and Rajesh Roshan later, music was bigger than the talent. Both Roshan Lal and Rajesh’s palette of knowledge on music was varied. The docu-series talks about how failure shaped each one of the Roshans’ journey.

In an exclusive interview, filmmaker Rakesh Roshan spoke about how he was fascinated by the world of films, making his son Hrithik Roshan an overnight superstar, and his definition and understanding of mass cinema.

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Edited excerpts from the interview

Do you have memories of falling in love with the world of cinema?

I used to see my father sitting with the musicians and lyric writers and actors coming home in big cars. I always had this in mind to become an actor. Once, Pradeep Kumar came to our house and I offered his driver a cup of tea and requested him if he could give me a round in his car. I was very fond of films and always wanted to become an actor. When I was growing up, I too wanted to become a filmmaker like Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand.

Today, everybody is saying that they want to watch mass cinema, larger than life films and you have actually mastered this genre way back, right from Khoon Bhari Maang to Karan Arjun to Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. How would define the term mass or masala?

Before becoming an actor or a producer, I was very fond of watching films right from my school days. I actually used to bunk school to watch movies. And then somehow this thing came to me- A common man’s story and a common man’s feelings. When I began making films, I didn’t put all these things purposely into them. It came automatically. I always appreciated big films like Mother India, Sholay, Sagar, or Subhash Ghai’s films. The canvas used to be huge.

In the documentary, you and Shah Rukh Khan say how he walked out of Karan Arjun because he couldn’t relate to the story and subsequently came back. What made that change?

That he can only answer (smiles). I lost him in King Uncle. When he saw I was making a film without him, he thought ‘Let me go back and I’ll don whatever Rakesh ji asks me to do.’ When he came back, he told me he was still not convinced by the story, but he’d do whatever I wanted him to. And then after few years, he made Om Shanti Om, which was also based on reincarnation.

Hrithik Roshan became an overnight star after the success of Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. How much did things change for you as a filmmaker post its release 25 years back?

It was a challenge for me to make my next film, which should surpass Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. I wanted to make something very very different. I wanted to present my son in a different way because I know how good of an actor he is, so I made Koi Mil Gaya, which no filmmaker would do at that juncture. He surpassed his first film with that. After that, I wanted to make him a superhero and I made Krrish. The variation was low and high.

Hrithik has given some of his biggest hits with you. What is it about him that you understand as a filmmaker few directors have been able to?

First of all, he’s my son. I’m his father. So he knows me very well and I know him very well. I know what he can do. It’s a very good combination. When I visualize a thing and ask him to do it this way, he’s convinced I’ll be able to bring it on the big screen. When I was an actor, people used to tell me, “Tum jungle mein chal rahe ho aur sookhe patte hain neeche. Upar Badal hain, Toofan hai.” When I used to go for shooting the next day, there were no trees also. I was like “Yeh to veeran hai sab.” And they used this say “Hume wo location nahin mili.” So if I had to do the same with Hrithik, I would have created all those things.