Hrithik takes a break due to knee injury

“I’ve been meeting directors and producers with my legs resting on the table,” says Hrithik Roshan, nestled comfortably on his sofa in his plush apartment in Juhu, legs perched on a low table, “but I tell them that this is not because the success of Dhoom 2 has gone to my head!” he laughs.

The reason behind this demeanour is that Hrithik had pushed himself to the limit during the shoot of Krishh and Dhoom 2 and as a result, he had torn a ligament in his right knee. Last night, the actor left for Singapore for a well-deserved, six-week break to rest and recuperate from the injury but before that, he spoke to BT about the complications that led to the same.

“I think too much of abuse during Krishh and Dhoom 2 and some portions of Jodha Akbar where I had to do a lot of action stuff led to this. I basically succumbed to the notion that we’re all heroes and pain doesn’t matter,” he says. So Hrithik has been strapping himself and going through the pain and getting the shot done. “I understand now how foolish I have been!” he smiles.

The actor has identified Singapore as the place where he can get the best medical treatment for his problem and will be undergoing aggressive physiotherapy sessions for the next six weeks. He will be going there alone for the time being, but wife Sussane has plans to join him later.

But Hrithik admits he’s not a good patient. “It’s very hard for me to do nothing. I have to force myself to rest! It’s the hardest thing for me to do. If you tell me that I have to run 24 hours a day for the next 10 days to make my knee better, I will do it, because I have something do! That’s a challenge for me. Resting is against my personality,” he says. But maybe that’s the reason he’s reached this point where he has to force himself to rest? “That’s true,” he admits with a laugh.

The actor will be back in Mumbai sometime in January, close to Jodha Akbar’s release date. “The film has taken far longer than what we thought it would take, but then time is immaterial when you’re talking about climbing an Everest. Jodha Akbar for me is an Everest, so it doesn’t matter how much time it takes to conquer that peak, as long as we’ve achieved that task and that has been done. It has juiced me out completely and I can say that I deserve this little break now,” he smiles.