Sooraj Pancholi Had Auditioned For Kai Po Che; Does Not Expect Salman Khan To Be His Godfather

One of the most talented and hard-working actors of the Hindi film industry, Sushant Singh Rajput left the entire nation heartbroken when he breathed his last on 14^th June. His untimely death soon sparked the nepotism controversy and Bollywood was once again left divided on the ‘outsiders vs insiders’ debate. Soon enough, trolls began targeting star kids and many had to face hate messages on social media. One such celeb who has fallen prey to the nepotism debate is Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab’s son Sooraj Pancholi.

Sooraj made his acting debut in 2015 with Hero, which was co-produced by Salman Khan, opposite Suniel Shetty’s daughter Athiya Shetty. In a recent chat with Bollywood Life, the star kid shared that if nepotism really played a role in his career, he would have been on his 10^th film by now. However, he is where he is today because he worked from a very young age as an assistant director in films such as Guzaarish (2010) and Ek Tha Tiger (2012). That’s how he met Salman and the superstar promised to cast him in a film because he saw potential. Sooraj shared that he worked really hard for it.

He went on to state, “It’s not that I came out of nowhere, woke up from my sleep and went to a movie set. The first film that I auditioned for was Kai Po Che (2013), and I was rejected there. I worked on myself after that. I also auditioned for Hero (2015) and even my upcoming film Hawa Singh. My mom is 60. She has been in the industry for over 30 years and till date, she auditions for movies. It’s a myth that star kids don’t have to give auditions.”

Talking about Salman giving him an opportunity, Sooraj stated that the superstar did give him a chance, but after Hero it has been the star kid’s own journey and he had to find his way himself. He added, “I cannot rely on Salman sir and cannot expect him to be my Godfather. I have never been dependent on him and he wouldn’t want it that way, too.”

Just yesterday a new rumor began doing rounds on social media, linking Sooraj to Sushant’s former manager Disha Salian’s death. However, Sooraj clarified that he did not even know Disha and had never met her.