Sidharth Malhotra says he never believed that an outsider could make it as a Bollywood actor

Sidharth Malhotra has said that he never believed that it was possible to become a Bollywood actor, being an outsider from Delhi.

Actor Sidharth Malhotra has said that when he entered the film industry as an assistant director, he thought it was impossible for an outsider to make in such a competitive world. Sidharth’s comments come in the wake of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, and the debate it reignited on nepotism.

Sidharth Malhotra made his debut with Student of the Year.

“I never thought when I was a teenager that it was possible to become a Bollywood actor coming from Delhi with no connections to the films. They (parents) were not shaping me up to an actor but to become a good human being I would say. And I mean this with utmost humility and not saying that I am a perfect example, but just to say that there are some basic qualities, I think I have inherited from my family and that’s what I keep giving to people,” he said in a session with We the Planet.

Sidharth began his career as a model at the age of 18. He worked as an assistant director to Karan Johar on the 2010 film My Name Is Khan, before making his acting debut in 2012’s Student of the Year.

The actor had previously spoken about nepotism in an interview to Man’s World. “I think even if you’re from a film family, eventually it’s a very performance-based profession,” he said. “You can’t drive an audience to a theatre based on your family – either people accept you or they don’t. I think I can say that after working in the industry for a few years, the accepting phase is over. Now, its the performance phase – I need to ensure that my films are getting box-office numbers, and that I choose the right characters to portray, which I will be remembered for.”

The actor most recently appeared in Marjaavaan. He will next star in the war drama, Shershaah, opposite Kiara Advani.

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