Hrithik Roshan has finally ventured out, once again, of the Filmkraft home turf. The die was cast with Sanjay Gadvi’s Dhoom  2 and now he is eating, drinking, walking, sleeping and breathing nothing else but Ashutosh Gowarikar’s magnum opus Jodhaa Akbar.

Excerpts from an interview:

Your journey from Kaho Na Pyar Hai to Dhoom 2 had just 14 stopovers? Don’t you think it was below average?

En route I have also done seven other movies, six as a child artiste and one special appearance in Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om. So you can say that my tinselville tour was of two decades (1987–2007) and not just seven years. The milestone journey was layered with so many sweet experiences that it has totally enriched me in the long run, not just as an actor but also as an assistant director.

And very soon I am planning to wield the megaphone. I have always wanted to be behind the camera and not in front of it. Yet no regrets!

I think I am more prepared and experienced now to do full justice to my passion of directing a movie all on my own.

From a super hero in Krissh you are all set to turn into a historical heartthrob with Jodhaa Akbar...

Well! I think after the release of Jodhaa Akbar, it will be Ash who will become the ‘Queen of Hearts’. But allow me to be very modest that it’s not just a heroine-oriented movie. We both have done our best. We both have a title role.

How different is Ashutosh Gowarikar's on-screen adaptation from the textbook version?

The textbook version has always been like hearsay evidence. But Ashutosh with his long-standing research on the actual lives of Queen Jodhaa and King Akbar has gone many steps further by penetrating deeper into their personal relationship in lieu with the effect their romantic liaison had in a society of those times. First of all, the religious divide had to be delved into carefully and then the finer nuances, the entire gamut of their romance also had to be projected in its proper perspective. And I think Ashutosh has done a par excellence job.

How difficult was it to get into the many layered skin of King Akbar’s character?

First of all Ashutosh had strictly advised me to relay only on the partly fictionalised script and not to make my own research by digging my head into the actual historical accounts. No Sir! I was not allowed to burn midnight oil at all. I think my director has succeeded in bringing out the best in me as King Akbar.

Yet the most challenging aspect was the horse riding and the sword fighting sequences. I was thrown off the horse many a time and even the sword bruises have taken their toll on me.

Last, but not the least, apart from Ashutosh’s careful narration of the script and the subsequent guidance on the sets it was Neeta Lulla’s well-designed and well-researched costumes, the looks and hair style, the wigs and the turbaned crowns and above all the dialogues of Haider Ali which also helped me get into the character of King Akbar. It also helped when I just concentrated on Jodhaa Akbar and shot at a stretch in Karjat which had also become like my second home during the entire filming and dubbing of Jodhaa Akbar.