Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan, who is enjoying the success of his latest aerial action film Fighter, has revealed that he suffered a muscle pull recently. On Wednesday (February 14), the actor took to Instagram to share a picture in which he is seen standing with the help of crutches.
Along with the picture, he also penned a lengthy note on strength and societal expectations of masculinity.
"Good afternoon. How many of you out there ever needed to be on crutches or a wheelchair n how did that make you feel? I remember my grandfather refusing to sit on a wheelchair at the airport because it wouldn’t align with his own mental image of himself as strong. I remember saying 'But Deda, its just an injury and nothing to do with how old you are! It will help heal the injury n not damage it further!' It made me so sad to see how strong he needed to be just to hide the fear n embarrassment on the inside. I couldn’t make sense of it. Made me feel helpless. I argued that the age factor is not applicable cause he needs the wheelchair for an injury and not his old age. He refused n kept the strong image on display for strangers (who literally didn’t care). It worsened his pain and delayed the healing."
He added, "There definitely is merit in that kind of conditioning, its a virtue. It’s the mentality of a soldier. My dad comes from the same conditioning. MEN are strong. 💪 But if you say soldiers never need crutches And even when they medically do, they must refuse, just for the sake of keeping the illusion of strong intact, Then I just think that the virtue has been stretched so far that it borders on plain stupidity."
Hrithik also opened up about how true strength is about accepting help when needed and being okay with vulnerability. He further wrote, "I believe true strength is being relaxed, composed and fully aware that nothing, not crutches, not a wheelchair, not any inability or vulnerability - and certainly not any sitting position can lessen or alter the image of that GIANT that you are on the inside. Strength is not always being Rambo against all odds with a machine gun saying “fuck em!"
"That’s applicable sure. Sometimes. And it’s the kind we all aspire for. Even me. But the more coveted one is strength when there is no one to fight on the outside. It’s that quiet fight on the inside between you and the 'image' of you. If you come out of that one feeling like wanting to do a slow dance by yourself , then you’re my hero. Anyways, pulled a muscle yesterday woke up wanting to reach out about this notion of strength. This is of course a bigger conversation, the crutches is just a metaphor. If you get it, you get it," the 50-year-old actor concluded.
Meanwhile, on the work front, Hrithik was last seen on the big screens in Siddharth Anand's Fighter with Deepika Padukone and Anil Kapoor. He played the role of an Indian Air Force Officer in the film.
He will next be seen in War 2 with Jr NTR. He also has Krrish 4 in the pipeline. The actor had announced the fourth part of Krrish in June 2021 and had also given a slight hint about the film's plot.
