After separating from Hrithik Roshan, Sussanne Roshan reveals the trick to moving on

Her personal life unravelled barely three months ago, yet Sussanne Roshan’s career as a décor entrepreneur is soaring. From expanding her firm The Charcoal Project to launching a line of luxury villas in Goa and a pop-up store Bandra 190, Sussanne has been working nonstop but says she’s “at peace”.

Despite the persistent buzz of divorce since Sussanne and her husband of 13 years Hrithik Roshan separated in December 2013, the interior designer refuses to address the rumours or even take her ex’s name. What she does reveal is that it has been easy to move from one project to the next, in spite of her crumbling marriage, because she’s able to compartmentalise her life. “The important thing is knowing that you are not doing anything wrong,” Sussanne confesses, “Just because two people are not together doesn’t mean that they have a bad relationship.

Whether it is as an entrepreneur, as a mother or as an ex, you have to be true to yourself.” In fact, Hrithik and Sussanne were the epitome of ‘conscious uncoupling’ when they threw a birthday party together this month for their son Hrehaan. In a white skater dress and matching loafers, Sussanne is happy to talk of her creative collaboration with design school Pearl Academy, for which her firm will give away national sponsorships.

She admits that it’s Naira, the seven-star villa project in Goa, that she’s most occupied with. “We are doing the architecture, concept, interiors... everything. The villas will be ready by 2016,” she reveals. She is all set to launch The Charcoal Project in Pune on May 9. “The 13,000 sq ft mother branch is in Andheri and the baby branch is in Bandra.” It’s a set of diaries that helps Sussanne keep track of her life.

“From the time I wake up, to dropping my kids to school and the things that have to be taken care of in office, I write it all down and stick to it. I have an eccentric pattern to managing my time,” says the mother to two boys, Hrehaan (8) and Hridaan (6). As our conversation closes, we ask what name is she going by these days. Shooting us a surprised look, she says, “Sussanne Roshan, of course.”