He should have known better after Sunny Deol's bravado in the '80s and Shah Rukh Khan's foolhardiness in the '90s led them to chronic problems with their backs and necks respectively. But the mix of professionalism and (uncalled for) daring has made Hrithik Roshan join the two superstars in becoming a chronic sufferer.
Hrithik Roshan had torn a ligament in his right knee pushing himself for the action scenes of his career-biggest hits Krrish and Dhoom:2 last year and is paying for his foolishness for not giving it rest and time to heal.
'I thought that we are heroes and pain does not matter,' says Hrithik who continued to work on Jodhaa-Akbar despite the alarming signs.
The actor had been neglecting treatment so far, despite medical advice and his physiotherapist's instructions and has to pay for it with six weeks of inertia. He has taken off to Singapore for 'rigorous recuperation, rest and physiotherapy sessions, which took a backseat as the shoots of his first historical film kept extending.
Says Hrithik, "While working towards fulfilling my commitments to all my work in ads films, I did not much care about my knee pain and my doctors' advice not to put any stress on it and take complete rest if I wanted it to heal. But I am giving my health priority, so that future commitments do not suffer.'
On Hrithik's plate at the moment are a role in Samir Karnik's 'Mera Bharat Mahaan', the next film on 'Krrish', for which rumours say Deepika Padukone is being considered for the female lead, and a 3-film deal with Adlabs.