Have you ever met an ex and been stumped by just how over him you are? Then you will know how I felt while watching Mohenjo Daro.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I have loved Hrithik Roshan for the past 16 years. I have written giddy fangirl pieces on him in t2. Here’s a line from three years back: “Hrithik makes Krrish believable, lovable and well, many more things do-able.”

I have toted around his picture from the 2015 ISL opening ceremony rehearsals at Salt Lake stadium as my phone screensaver for months.

I have Google-stalked him. Obviously.

I have tweeted mush to him. Like: “You made my heart go #BangBang @iHrithik, with your action. And you’re the only Bolly hero on whom those stunts look convincing.”

But all this was BC — Before Cangana, er Kangana. Oh come on, I’ve just endured 155 minutes of an orange Hrithik with copper-blond ringlets set in 2016 BC, so allow me this little pun.

In the early part of this year, I —  and I suspect the rest of the world —  was gobsmacked when Hrithik Roshan sent his Krrish 3 co-star and rumoured former lover Kangana Ranaut a legal notice, where he wanted her to call a press conference to publicly apologise for insinuating on a TV show that he was her “Silly Ex”.

Even before that he had bared his stupidity for all to see in January with this tweet: “Ther r more chances of me having had an affair with d Pope dan any of d (Im sure wonderful)women d media hs ben naming.Thanks but no thanks.” He later got into trouble with some religious groups for the papal mention.

I couldn’t believe that my Greek god had fallen, and fallen so low. The public mudslinging soon turned putrid. Kangana hit back with a legal notice of her own. He accused her of stalking him and obsessing over him and feeding off his celeb-hood and even let it slip that she suffered from Asperger’s Syndrome. He said his email had been hacked. She said and still maintains that they had a consensual affair. 

Every turn in the sordid Silly Ex saga twisted the stake into my broken heart a little deeper, till there was NO feeling left for Hrithik.

Now it’s hard to imagine that this man had it all even two years back. He was the best-looking man in Bollywood, with an eye-wateringly handsome face and a lean, sculpted body that could move to any music with fluid graceful steps, be it Senorita or Tu meri or Ek pal ka jeena.

He gave us the adorably flawed Arjun in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, a regal emperor in Jodhaa-Akbar, an oh-so-sexy thief (who cooks topless) in Dhoom: 2 and India’s very own caped superhero in Krrish. But now he dunks himself in bronzer and fights a CGI crocodile in a dud like Mohenjo Daro. Oh Hrithik, what has become of you, the superstar?!
Not just his work, his personal life too seemed perfect, at least from the outside. Married to his teenage sweetheart, the stunning Sussanne Khan, and father of two beautiful boys, Hrithik’s picture-perfect home life somehow made him even more desirable in my eyes.

Well, the marriage didn’t last and they split in 2014, after 17 years together. That made me really sad, despite the fact that my “buoy” was single now. Of course I still loved him and prayed that the parties with Paris Hilton would soon peter out and he would end up with an intelligent woman even as he continued to be a doting dad to Hrehaan and Hridhaan.

But what came next was reason enough for me the fangirl to drop him like Ashutosh Gowariker dropped any pretence of making a film on the ancient civilisation of India. Taking a private fight into the open and trying to shame a former lover is, for me, like using the avada kedavra curse — an unforgivable act. Wanting a public apology for saying “Silly Ex” is like, well, living up to the moniker.

I don’t know whether Hrithik is Kangana’s Silly Ex or not but he sure is mine.

Samhita Chakraborty
What’s your advice for Hrithik Roshan? Write in 20 words or less and send it to t2@abp.in