It took two hours this evening on Republic TV for Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan to try and convince editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami that there was no relationship between actress Kangana Ranaut and him ever. They could not have picked a more inopportune time to have this chat. For at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi, India was taking on Australia in the first T20 of the ongoing cricket series at the same time. Fortunately, the Rain Gods were on Hrithik’s side. And play was halted by a sharp and sudden shower. All eyes on national TV were then naturally turned onto the actor and his otherwise aggressive host. But for once, motor mouth Arnab (as he is described) was not his interruptive cut-and-thrust self. There was a vulnerability in Hrithik’s demeanour that brought out a never-before-seen soft and sympathetic side in Arnab. “There’s no smoke without fire,” the TV impresario gently chided Hrithik a couple of times. But for the rest of the chat, he let the actor bare his soul and speak his heart out.

And that Hrithik did. Dressed in white, the colour of purity and innocence, he sat uneasily through the show. Sometimes rocking himself as he recounted his anguish. Other times swiveling in his seat like a little boy in an ice cream parlour. All the time looking thoughtful, rubbing his chin, eyes narrowing as he struggled over every distasteful detail of the alleged affair. Hrithik stammered a lot too, the prominent Adam’s apple jumping in his throat as he painfully expressed himself, never once looking into the camera, staring but not seeing like his blind character in his January film Kaabil as Arnab referred to a sheaf of papers. He shook his head in disbelief when confronted with some sordid accusation. Got agitated a couple of times. Reached for a glass of water. Looked distressed when referred to as “Mr. Kangana Ranaut”. But in the final analysis, he stoutly maintained that “No! There was no relationship!” Adding honestly that “I was a single man – and I could have!” At the end of the two hours, Arnab Goswami thanked him and wished Hrithik Roshan well. The scoreboard at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi was silent. India was waiting to bat. But on Republic TV, tweets for #HrithikSpeaksToArnab had reached 23, 930!