Sunaina Roshan’s pictorial biography of her father, Rakesh Roshan, was kept as a secret from the actor-director. She tells Trisha Mukherjee that his never-die-spirit inspired her
It was a rare outing for Roshan family in Delhi. Friends and extended family of the Roshans queued for photographs and spoke of each other like members of mutual admiration society. It was the unveiling of Sunaina Roshan’s book To Dad With love (published by Om Books). Sunaina is an addition to the list of doting daughters from Bollywood who have made their fathers proud by penning down their lives. Ritu Nanda wrote two books on her father Raj Kapoor and recently Ratika Nanda came up with the book Prem Naam Hai Mera.
Sunaina, a cancer survivor, joined her father’s production house Filmkraft and was an assistant director for Krrish 3. She said that the idea to come up with a pictorial biography of Rakesh Roshan struck her while she worked with him. Sunaina said, “It is his never-die-spirit that inspired me most. It is his philosophy of ‘tough times don’t last, tough people do,’ which kept me going when I was ill. While working with him I discovered so much more about him as a thorough professional. His sincerity and perpetual hard work made me feel that this man needs to be written about to inspire others.”
To Dad With love is the story of a “superhero” whose fought against adversities and never gave up. “It is a tribute to the man who stopped being a carefree party loving man at the tender age of 19,” added Sunaina. Without disclosing it to her father, Sunaina started collecting photographs from Rakesh Roshan’s childhood to teenage days as well as his days as a young actor, as a husband, father, director and of his journey till now. She got in touch with his extended family and friends to collect information. She spoke to about 30 people, including Shatrughan Sinha, Jeetendra and Rishi Kapoor, to get the most candid information about her father. Help came from home, too, with mother Pinkie Roshan guiding her at every step and Hrithik agreeing to write a foreword of the book. “The making of the book had demanded an extensive collection of photos, most of which was taken care of by my mother. I tried to stay away from him (Rakesh) to avoid being questioned,” said Sunaina.
She shared that it was toughest to get her brother, Hrithik, to write the foreword. “But when he did, he did it with all his heart. He has been working with him and there could have been no one better than him to write what a person our father is,” said Sunaina.
Rakesh Roshan who directed movies like Khoon Bhari Maang, Kaho Na Pyaar Hai, Karan Arjun was overwhelmed by his daughter’s efforts. “This book is the biggest earning for me, and that too without any investment,” he said.
As expected, Hrithik had less to speak at the event. But he was generous to shower praises on his sister. “We all have been too proud of her. She is the real superhero of the family,” said the actor.