Now I have two of you! Suzanne tells Hrithik

Exults wife Sussanne as Hrithik’s wax statue makes it to London’s Tussauds. As for Hrithik, coming face-to-face with his incredible mirror image was a surreal experience that freaked him out.

His wife, Sussanne, gave the waxen Hrithik Roshan a kiss and said, “Now I have two of you.” His son quietly walked up to it and slipped his fingers through his, holding his hand as he would his dad’s, and by doing so gave it his stamp of approval. His mother, Pinky, was jumping with joy, and dad Rakesh was cracking jokes, telling her that if she liked the new Hrithik so much, she should go on stage, he’d say, “Statue” and she’d freeze alongside!

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As for Hrithik, coming face-to-face with his incredible mirror image was a surreal experience that freaked him out. “Looking at it, I couldn’t laugh for more than two seconds. I’d flinch and take a step backwards, it’s so lifelike and seems to be telling me, ‘Hey dude, you look just like me!” The actor unveiled his look-alike at London’s wax museum, Madame Tussauds, on Thursday, to join an elite Bollywood group that includes Amitabh and Aishwarya Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan. “It’s humbling. When they asked me where I wanted my figure placed, I told them to put it in a corner,” he laughs.

The foreign media was in no mood to put him in a corner. "I’ve been talking for nine hours," he admitted from London. "I’m astounded by the interest in Indian cinema globally. It warms my heart," he asserts. The statue has been moulded on the Dhoom 2 look but for Hrithik, it’s not about the movie. "Whenever my children or any other child is dispirited or tired, I’d want him or her to look at this figure and know that failures can be conquered, you just have to rise above them," he says. "I don’t want them to ever give up."

Back home, Hrithik is preparing for another stint on Karan Johar’s couch. “I’ve never been comfortable on it and have always tried to find some excuse to stay away,” he admits. “But I love Karan too much to say ‘no’. Besides, he’s the best TV host we have who can get his guests to reveal secrets they’ve kept bottled up all these years. Sussanne has ‘exposed’ me on the show,” he chuckles.

The couple celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary last year but Hrithik says that 10 years ago, he only put his signature on a piece of paper and made the relationship official. “Sussanne has been a part of my life and soul for 16 years now, and I couldn’t have asked for a better companion. Like me she’s a Sufi at heart. For us, glam, glitz and awards don’t matter. It’s the moments… And of course our kids.”

He refuses to get started on Hrehaan and Hridaan saying that like any other parent, he can get mushy about his sons for hours together. “When I see them, I see unconditional love,” he says. “And an innocence that makes childhood precious.”

Bollywood is waxed!
Shah Rukh Khan has his wax figure at two Madame Tussauds museums. His first statue was unveiled in London in 2007, where it was dressed in a black suit and white shirt. In August 2010, he unveiled the second statue in Los Angeles, where the figure had the Taj Mahal in the back drop. It had a black shirt instead of the white one. The actor unveiled his wax figure at a huge celebration comprising dance performances on Bollywood numbers.

Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s statue was unveiled in September 2004 at the London museum. She was then shooting for Gurinder Chaddha’s Bride and Prejudice, and so the statue’s look was based on her look in the film — a pink patiala salwar and kurti. Post-marriage, another statue of the actor was unveiled at the Times Square museum in New York in 2007. This statue has a bridal get up — it is dressed in a red and gold sari and dons a mangalsutra.

Actor Salman Khan got waxed by Tussauds in 2008. Dressed in a black vest, the statue has six-pack abs and bulging biceps, just like the actor. Salman donated a set of clothes and a bracelet for his wax model. The actor beat nine others, including Madhuri Dixit and Lata Mangeshkar, to win a place of pride at the museum after a public poll was conducted.

Superstar Amitabh Bachchan was the first Bollywood celebrity to get waxed at Madame Tussauds, London in 2000. Bachchan was chosen, following a poll to find the most famous Bollywood actor who has done close to 170 films. His look was based on Karan Johar’s hit Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. His statue is clothed in a black bandgala achkan, accessorised with a shawl.