New Delhi: Marking the 20th anniversary of ‘Lakshya’ recently, Hrithik Roshan said that filmmaker Farhan Akhtar cast him in the movie at a time when he was in search of his own identity, something he channelled through its protagonist Karan Shergill.
‘Lakshya’, which won critical acclaim for both Hrithik and Farhan, was released in theatres on June 18, 2004. It also emerged as a hit at the box office. Set against the backdrop of the 1999 Kargil War, the Hindi film revolves around an aimless young man Karan Shergill (Hrithik), who joins the Indian Army and matures into a battlefield hero.
In a video shared on ‘Instagram’, Hrithik walked down memory lane where he reminisced about the making of the movie, finding himself and looking forward to the re-release of ‘Lakshya’ in theatres on Friday. The actor said that he was in awe of Farhan, his childhood friend, who was fresh from the success of his 2001 directorial debut ‘Dil Chahta Hai’.
“I was very young, hardly an actor and Farhan was a friend who had suddenly become this incredible mind,” said Hrithik, who had by then starred in 10 films.
He added, “When I saw his first film, I was like, ‘How has this person made this film? How? Where did he get the courage, knowledge or information?’ He had written this beautiful script and more than the story or the big cause, it was the character of Karan Shergill that was me.”