Hrithik Roshan

Roshan was born on 10 January 1974 in Bombay to the Roshan family, prominent in Hindi cinema. He is of Punjabi and Bengali descent on his paternal side. Hrithik's paternal grandmother Ira Roshan was a Bengali. His father, film director Rakesh Roshan, is the son of music director Roshanlal Nagrath; his mother, Pinkie, is the daughter of producer and director J. Om Prakash. His uncle, Rajesh, is a music composer. Roshan has an older sister, Sunaina, and was educated at the Bombay Scottish School. Roshan belongs to a Hindu family, though he considers himself more spiritual than religious. Roshan felt isolated as a child; he was born with an extra thumb fused to the one on his right hand, which led some of his peers to avoid him. He has stammered since the age of six; this caused him problems at school, and he feigned injury and illness to avoid oral tests. He was helped by daily speech therapy. Roshan's grandfather, Prakash first brought him on-screen at the age of six in the film Aasha (1980); he danced in a song enacted by Jeetendra, for which Prakash paid him ₹100. Roshan made uncredited appearances in various family film projects, including his father's production Aap Ke Deewane (1980). In Prakash's Aas Paas (1981), he appeared in the song "Shehar Main Charcha Hai". The actor's only speaking role during this period came when he was 12; he was seen as Govinda, the title character's adopted son, in Prakash's Bhagwaan Dada (1986). Roshan decided that he wanted to be a full-time actor, but his father insisted that he focus on his studies. In his early 20s, he was diagnosed with scoliosis that would not allow him to dance or perform stunts. Initially devastated, he eventually decided to become an actor anyway. Around a year after the diagnosis, he took a chance by jogging on a beach when he was caught in a downpour. There was no pain, and becoming more confident, he was able to increase his pace with no adverse effects. Roshan sees this day as "the turning point of [his] life." Roshan attended Sydenham College, where he took part in dance and music festivals while studying, graduating in commerce. Roshan assisted his father on four films—Khudgarz (1987), King Uncle (1993), Karan Arjun (1995) and Koyla (1997)—while also sweeping the floor and making tea for the crew. After pack-up, Roshan would enact Shah Rukh Khan's scenes from Koyla and film himself to make a judgement about his performance as an actor. While he assisted his father, he studied acting under Kishore Namit Kapoor.