His First film was Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai.For the past six months since the release of Kaho Na Pyar Hai, India has been in the grip of Hrithik Fever. There's something about Hrithik. Something which makes perfectly normal and sane people go berserk. Toddlers want to dance like him, young men want to be like him and young women, well they just want him. And their mothers have very unmaternal thoughts about him.

And to think six months ago no one had even heard of him. I myself have ample proof of this. Six months back while writing my Millenium Stars 2 article, I searched for information on Hrithik through popular search engines like Altavista and Yahoo! and barely got a couple of links and today there are 10,000+ links and even related searches for Hrithik!

Another proof of this guy's popularity (as if more was needed!) is that my Millenium Stars 2 article is the most viewed article of this topic( 1500+ and counting), surpassing the next most viewed article by more than 600 hits! The only reason that can account for this is that I’ve inserted a photo of Hrithik in the article (and I thought it was my great writing!)

But why is he so popular? OK, so the film’s a massive hit. It is set to be one of the biggest hits in Hindi Cinema surpassing even Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. But it still does not explain his unsurpassed popularity, or the reason why India Today, India’s premier news magazine, chose him as their cover story dated March 20, 2000 although in the past 25 years only three other film personalities have graced the cover of this famous magazine. The others are Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Shabana Azmi. That, too, after these three eminent personalities had completed a decade in the industry. Certainly not after their first film, as is the case with Hrithik.

There could be several reasons:

1. He’s drop dead handsome and has a terrific body, but there’s also something vunerable about him that makes you feel protective.
2. His universal appeal which guts across all ages and regions. And gender.
3. He is not the all-body-no-brains type of guy. He is a graduate from Mumbai’s Sydenham college with a first class.
4. He is a fabulous dancer and moves like a dream.
5. Last, but not the least, he is a genuinely good actor.

   With the arrival of this new boy-toy, all the other heroes are now looking just a little more jaded and tired. At last, the people seem to say there’s an alternative to the three Khans.

   Let’s hope that Roshan Junior is the real deal and that he’s here to stay. A slightly disconcerting note is that in my recent online poll, which asked the question whether Hrithik would be a one-film wonder, roughly half the respondents replied in the affirmative. Are people getting tired of this incessant hype? Only time will tell.

   In the meanwhile watch out for Hrithik in his forthcoming films:

   
   

   • Subhash Ghai’s Yaadein
   • Karn Johar’s Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham
   • Mahesh Bhatt’s untitled film
   • Khalid Mohammed’s Fiza
   • Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Mission Kashmir

     Personally, I hope the guy does well, 'cause he seems to be a nice guy, notwithstanding the awful Coke commercial!