Arjun Kapoor reveals Salman Khan made him consider acting; recalls how Aditya Chopra rejected him as a main lead

The handsome and very fit Arjun Kapoor made his smashing acting debut in 2012 with Ishaqzaade opposite Parineeti Chopra . He won hearts with his powerful performance and the lead pair also left fans in awe with their sizzling chemistry. While the film did mark his first acting project, it was not the beginning of his journey in Bollywood. 9 years before he shined on-screen as Parma, Arjun had already begun his career in the industry as an assistant director on Nikhil Advani's Kal Ho Naa Ho . His dream was to become a director and he was as surprised as anybody else when he emerged as an actor.

In a recent chat with Bollywood Hungama , Arjun shared, “I never wanted to be an actor. I always was passionate about filmmaking, about the production aspect. I definitely wanted to be a director back then. I was working as an assistant, I was running around with production, trying to learn the ropes to the best of my ability. I think Salman Khan is the reason I became an actor. He’s the one who showed me that window and he said ‘think about it, you have something’, and he felt it. And I decided that I should give it a shot, to lose the weight and see how I feel about it. Kabhi kabhi hota hai naa somebody else has to inspire you and look in a different direction. You look in the mirror you don’t see it, somebody else sees a part of you. So I think it started from there.”

He began taking acting classes and he realized he enjoyed entertaining people and has the gift. That’s when he started thinking he can be an actor. But he did not want to make his debut with his filmmaker father Boney Kapoor because he felt it would be the easiest way out, which would not give him the chance to test himself. Arjun recalled, “So I went and auditioned. I auditioned, Aditya Chopra saw my audition, my photos first and he said ‘achha yeh toh actor nahi ban sakta, isko we can give him a supporting (role), he can’t be a main lead’. He was not very impressed with my images.”

Casting director Shanoo Sharma then took him under her wing and after 6 months and losing some more weight, Arjun once again had a photoshoot. This time when Aditya saw his picture, he reluctantly decided to give Arjun an audition. Eventually the filmmaker saw Arjun’s potential and things worked out. Well, the actor has come a long way-- he is a well-known name in the industry and currently has three exciting projects in his envious line up.

On his 37th birthday today, we wish Arjun all the success in the world!