I'd have been frightened to death: Hrithik Roshan

Though back home, Guzaarish hero Hrithik Roshan has still not allowed his sons to see him. Explains the concerned father, "They'd get so scared if they saw me like this. Though my lips are going back to their normal size, they're still not fully normal. I don't want my sons to see me until I look like myself again."

A new anti-biotic pill almost choked the life and breath out of Hrithik Roshan. "This kind of attack happens in the rarest of rare cases. But it happened to me. Anything could've happened if I hadn't rushed to the hospital," says Hrithik on Monday afternoon back home but not recovered enough to face the world.

Hrithik had gotten so frightened that he had checked into the hospital alone. "It was crazy! I'd have been frightened to death at what I saw in the mirror. Within minutes my lips had swollen to ten times the normal size. Luckily for me, even in that shocking state, I remembered Will Smith in a film where his lips had swollen to monstrous proportions because of an allergy. So, I knew it wasn't fatal."

Hrithik was immediately able to identify that it was an allergy caused by a new antibiotic he had taken half an hour earlier. "That was the only alien substance introduced in my body. I told my doctors about it. And they were immediately able to locate the source of allergy. Such violent allergy attacks usually happen in the West after eating prawns. I must be the only person in the universe to get so sick after taking an antibiotic pill."

Hrithik was on his way to a very dear friend's funeral when the allergy attack that landed him in hospital on Sunday occurred.

In fact, so alarming were the symptoms that Hrithik just rushed to the hospital. Recollecting the sequence of events Hrithik says, "I was driving to a friend's funeral when the attack suddenly happened. It just makes you so grateful for the gift of life."

Hrithik is overwhelmed by the response to his performance in Guzaarish. "I guess this (the hospitalization) was God's way of balancing things out. I was getting much love for my performance it had to be counter-balanced."

Guzaarish has taken Hrithik to new heights of self-realization. "How can one not be affected when you meet these people who are paralyzed for life? Their spirit and joie de vivre just overwhelms you. I'll always be grateful to Sanjay Leela Bhansali for giving the opportunity to do this film."

Hrithik admits that it's not Dhoom. "Guzaarish is a different scale and space. The closest I've been to this space is Jodhaa Akbar. It's an entirely different experience when you know you're affecting lives beyond entertainment."