After Saif, Hrithik falls ill

After shooting round-the-clock for Ashutosh Gowariker's "Jodha-Akbar", flying back each evening to rehearse for the Filmfare awards event and shooting for an ad in Singapore, superhero Hrithik Roshan is down with a severe attack of viral fever.

"I'm totally bedridden," he said from his home. "I've been working round-the-clock, flying in from Karjat to rehearse. Then I also took off for Singpaore.

"All the time I had high fever and was keeping it down with paracetamol tablets. Today is the first time when I'm resting. Post Saif, all of us really need to take care of ourselves," Hrithik told IANS.

Lately Hrithik has allowed himself to be self-indulgent with his food habits.

"I was so much into being well-toned for 'Dhoom 2' I decided to give my body a holiday! I splurged for a while. But, then, I needed to get back into shape. Therefore, after shooting, rehearsing for my Filmfare performance, I was also going to the gym daily.

"On top of all this, Gowariker hadn't warned me that we'd be doing sword-fighting sequences during the last 20 days when I was in and out of Mumbai and Karjat. All this has taken its toll. I'm completely exhausted and burning with a fever."

He brightens up while speaking about his role as Akbar.

"I've enjoyed playing everyone from Rohit in 'Koi... Mil Gaya' to Aryan in 'Dhoom 2'. But playing Akbar is a different challenge requiring a lot of researched attention."

The Urdu professor who called on location to check the accent is happy.

"He hasn't been complaining. So, I guess I'm doing it right," said Hrithik who is in no mood to sign another film yet.

"At the moment, I think a break is seriously needed after 'Jodha-Akbar'. We must learn to listen to warning signals from the body."

By Subhash K. Jha, Indo-Asian News Service