Hrithik Roshan is now among India’s wealthiest actors, with an estimated net worth of Rs 2,500 crore, according to the Hurun India Rich List 2026. The actor ranks fourth among Indian actors on the list, behind Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan. His wealth also includes his business interests, including his HRX brand.

The figure stands in contrast to the financial uncertainty Hrithik witnessed while growing up, particularly during some of the most difficult phases of his father Rakesh Roshan’s career.

Hrithik saw Rakesh Roshan ‘lose everything’ after Koyla

Rakesh Roshan’s 1997 film Koyla, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit, was unsuccessful at the box office and left the filmmaker facing serious financial difficulties.

Story continues below.
Subscribe to see fewer ads.

In an old interview with Zee ETC Bollywood, Hrithik recalled seeing his father break down over the losses.

“There was a time, I think after one of his films, I think after Koyla, when there were some problems at home. He had lost all his money. Whatever he had earned, everything that he had earned, so there were problems coming from all sides. I saw him one morning, and whatever he had made, he said, ‘I have lost everything.’ So that was the first time, actually, that I saw tears in his eyes.”

Rakesh Roshan could not afford the family’s rent

The Koyla setback was part of a longer period of financial struggle for the Roshan family.

In a 2006 interview with Simi Garewal, Hrithik recalled that there was a time when his father could not afford their rent. His mother, Pinky Roshan, took Hrithik and his sister to her parents’ home while Rakesh stayed with his mother.

Story continues below this ad

“Until the time my dad could earn enough money to buy another house. And then we shifted into another house which was barely just walls and floors. We slept on mattresses, these mats and slowly got the furniture in,” Hrithik said.

Rakesh later recalled his own struggles as an actor and the uncertainty of providing for his family.

“As an actor, I was not that successful but I kept trying. I never moved ahead in my career despite some of my movies doing well. So I started producing films and then moved to direction. Now, when I look back, I feel happy. Back then, I had no idea how I would get the money to run my house. I had two children, a wife and a family to look after. But somehow we always managed,” he said.

Story continues below this ad

Rakesh mortgaged house and cars to launch Hrithik

When Rakesh decided to launch his son as a leading actor with Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai, he took another major financial risk. The film went around Rs 3 crore over budget, and Rakesh mortgaged his house and cars to fund it.

Hrithik did not initially know about the financial risk his father was taking.

“I said I am mortgaging the house, maybe if I require, I will take money, otherwise I will try to manage. But it so happened that I managed it with the funds I had. Had the film not done well, then I would have to shift somewhere else or… but I took that chance,” Rakesh had told Mid-Day.

Hrithik only learned the extent of what his father had risked later. In The Roshans, he recalled how his mother told him that the family home and cars had been mortgaged.

Story continues below this ad

“That’s the night I found out, my mom told me, that the house was mortgaged, the cars were mortgaged… I realised how much was at stake,” Hrithik said.

Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai changed everything

Released in 2000, Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai became a major success and launched Hrithik as a leading Bollywood star. The film, directed and produced by Rakesh Roshan, also starred Ameesha Patel.

For Rakesh, the gamble paid off. For Hrithik, it marked the beginning of a career that would eventually take his estimated wealth to Rs 2,500 crore.