Hrithik Roshan, Bollywood's Resident Life Coach

Hrithik Roshan is aruguably the most beautiful man in India. But the man stresses that beauty is skin deep and inconsequential — and that he doesn't know what narcissism means.

- Arnesh Ghose

During this cover feature, I met two Hrithik Roshans. One was during the photo shoot — suave, sexy and narcissistic — and the other was when I went over to his new single-again, seafacing pad in Juhu, in Mumbai. Hrithik hardly spoke to anyone during the shoot, and was constantly doted upon by a bevy of self-important managers and assistants, slipping in a “Wow” or a “Thank you” if they let him. When I met him at his place the next week, early in the morning, it was thankfully just the two of us. Hrithik did not have to bother about how he looked — he was in his gym wear, with a three-day old beard, a sweaty face and no make-up. Colleagues of mine who have interviewed Hrithik in the past had warned me about his love for answering questions with metaphors and philosophical jargon. “That is his way of not giving you a direct answer or being straight up honest about stuff,” they had said. I’m not asking him anything about his personal life, anyway, I thought. Why wouldn’t he be straight up with me?