I was almost forced to do Agneepath: Hrithik

All set to play the new-age Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, Hrithik tells Omar Qureshi the pressures of a remake, beating expectations, fighting health problems and prepping to 'save the world', superhero-style. Read on... 

You're going to be the new-age Vijay Dinanath Chauhan. Are you nervous? Well, it's very different from the original character. My Vijay Dinanath Chauhan is a simple, common man. He's just Vijay. If you start comparing me with Mr Bachchan, I will fail at the word 'go'. 

You had apparently rejected the film...Yes. I didn't want to do a remake. I wanted to do films that have not been done before. But KJo was insistent. I was almost forced into the film, made to hear the script and once I read it, I was blown away. 

Sanju's look is getting a lot of rave reviews... He's done a fantastic job in the film. In some scenes, he looked so menacing and his acting was so natural that it threw me off my game. His Kancha Cheena was intimidating, so I decided to up my game. 

We hear Priyanka and you have sizzling chemistry in the film... I think this film is Priyanka's best work so far. It's her career's best. 

What's happening on the superhero front? My health is stabilising, so we'll be able to start with my schedule. The Krrish sequel has been postponed for over two years. I was advised not to get into the stunts but I can't delay it anymore. 

And there was a lot of hype around Kangana's role... Well yeah, it was originally offered to her. She didn't find it lucrative, so we approached a host of actresses. Somehow, we went back to Kangana after finishing the script and she loved the role. It was written with her in mind. 

You've won a lot of tags... Sexiest Man, Most Desirable Star, etc I'm very humbled, but a lot of hard work goes into these so-called 'tags'. When I was suffering from a slipped disc, I won the title of 'Most Desirable', but was binging on cupcakes and brownies. My waist size was 36 inches and I could barely fit into my Krrish jacket. I worked on my body really hard and got back in shape before being declared the sexiest man.