Rakesh Roshan took on immense financial burdens to launch Hrithik Roshan, never told family he'd ‘mortgaged his house, cars, office': Daughter Sunaina recalls

Indian Express

25-04-2025

Filmmaker Rakesh Roshan went from strength to strength after transitioning from acting to direction. His children, Hrithik Roshan and Sunaina Roshan, have attempted to take their father's legacy forward in their own respective careers. But as highlighted in the Netflix documentary The Roshans recently, he faced difficult times as a director as well. In a recent interview, Sunaina recalled how her father persevered through these difficulties, and the huge bet he was willing to take on Hrithik ahead of his acting debut.
In an interview with News18, Sunaina Roshan shed light on her father's journey as a director and producer and also the financial struggles he endured. 'We were very young to understand, especially when Dad started his acting career. As a producer, he had mortgaged his house twice, and the cars, and the office during Kaho Na Pyaar Hai and Khudgarz. He gambled with his life a lot, but he was fearless in doing so.'
She was too quick to point out that her father never brought his work home with him, and that the kids had no idea what was going on in his life. 'We never knew that side of him because he never showed us what we were going through. I and my brother both had a very peaceful childhood.' Sunaina added, 'We never had to deal with people talking about our backgrounds because times were very different back then. There was no social media, thankfully, and Dad himself didn't make it that big.'
Both Hrithik and and his dad have previously talked about the financial struggles that Rakesh went through. In a conversation with Mid-Day, he said, 'Hrithik never knew, I never told him. Only my wife knew about it. I said I am mortgaging the house, maybe if I require, I will take money, otherwise I will try to manage. But it so happened that I managed it in the funds I had. Had the film not done well, then I would have to shift somewhere else or… but I took that chance.'
In the documentary The Roshans, Hrithik reflected on the moment he found out what was at stake for his family. He said, 'I always saw the glass half-full. I had not colour-corrected in two or three scenes, because I was handling that. And the overseas prints had already been sent. So, I came to my dad, really upset that, 'How could you let that go?' And I think that was the first time that my dad gave it back to me. He gave it back to me in my face. He turned to my mom, and he said, 'I am doing everything for him, and he's sitting here and he's complaining'. And that's the night I found out, my mom told me, that the house was mortgaged, the cars were mortgaged… I realised how much was at stake.'