Urmila has a Krrish in her family!

Mumbai: Hrithik Roshan is unaware of it, but he has an intense bond with Urmila Matondkar and her family.

"It's all because of 'Krrish'," laughed Urmila.

"My five-year old nephew Anurag, with his two front teeth missing, thinks he's Krrish. He's completely taken up with the character, cap and all. I don't think any character has made such an impact on children's minds. I think Hrithik rocks in the film," Urmila said.

The entire Matondkar family has been made to watch "Krrish" a number of times just so the little fan can get enough of his icon.

So why doesn't Urmila introduce her little moppet to his super-hero?

"Oh I am thinking about it. But I'm seriously worried that Anurag will refuse to recognise Hrithik as Krrish. So close is his identification with Krrish that he would probably refuse to accept that Hrithik played the character. I suppose that's the ultimate compliment to the brilliance of the actor."

What's new? Hrithik's impact as a performer on impressionable minds has by now become legendary.

"This happened at the time when Kaho Naa...Pyaar Hai had been released. Sridevi and Boney Kapoor's first-born Jhanvi was just a toddler and she fell completely in love with Hrithik!

"She had packed this little suitcase and she'd go and stand in her balcony and wave to every plane that would fly above her home. That little girl would tell everyone that Hrithik was going to come down from the plane and take her away," said Shabana Azmi.

Hrithik has always been as pleased as punch about his connectivity with kids.

"It feels good to be liked by children. Believe me, I know how hard it is to be a child. I was very shy and introverted as a child. I couldn't speak properly to strangers. For a long time, I couldn't even take an appointment with a doctor.

"My mother or sister would do that for me. In school I kept to myself. I was always left out of all cultural activities. I had to work hard to break the barriers that I had built around me to be competent at my job as an actor."

He says kids are his loyal fans.

"An actor has to reach out to millions of people. I can't tell you how happy I feel to have made contact with kids through Koi... Mil Gaya. Children are my most loyal films fans. Both Koi... Mil Gaya and Krrish appealed to the child within me.

"So, I guess they connected with the child within audiences. I don't make conscious efforts to appeal to any particular section of viewers. My main aim as an actor is to take our cinema to the next level.

"And that's where Koi... Mil Gaya took a small step, though we projected it as big Indian sci-fi flick. But Krrish is a giant leap."

He has been under the weather for two weeks now, ever since he returned to Mumbai from his long shooting schedule of "Dhoom 2" in South Africa.

"It's some kind a viral attack. I can't feel the energy and vitality I normally feel. Can't eat properly and don't feel my normal enthusiasm for anything.

"It's not as though I'm totally ill either, so this in-between state of being is quite annoying."

But Hrithik has to continue working.

"Unfortunately, my work ethics haven't permitted me the luxury of rest. I've been shooting right through."