When Sonam Kapoor said her allowance was $40 a week, had to do odd jobs as a student

Sonam Kapoor in a 2011 interview said that her parents -- Anil and Sunita Kapoor -- never bought her 'anything designer' when she was young and that she bought her first car herself.

Actor Sonam Kapoor celebrated her birthday on Wednesday. Over the years, she has often been asked about the perceived privilege that she was born with, being the daughter of actor Anil Kapoor.

Sonam Kapoor turned 36 on Wednesday.

In one such instance in 2011, the actor said that her parents instilled 'middle-class values' in their kids, in an effort to teach them the importance of money.

She told Zoom, "Contrary to popular belief, my parents barely gave me any pocket money. They told me 'there's no reason for you to get any extra money, you can do any classes you want, but all the extras like designer dresses and clothes, there's no way that we're paying for that'."

She said that she used to get $40 a week. "That's really nothing in Singapore; it's a very, very expensive city. So I was like I need to make some money somehow. So I tried it and got fired in four days, because I was so bad at it."

Sonam continued, "We've had a great upbringing, but both of them come from middle-class families, so they've instilled really middle-class values in us." She admitted, however, that her 'tastes' aren't middle-class at all. "Tastes I developed myself. My parents have never bought me anything designer. They've never bought me a car. I bought my car myself. And it took me three years to pay for it."

Wishing Sonam a happy birthday, Anil wrote in an Instagram post, "To the girl who chases her dreams and follows her heart... @sonamkapoor , watching you grow everyday has been a dream come true as a parent. I surely got lucky with the best kids. You’re strong when you need to be, kind without fail and always evolving. You have a way of infusing a bit of you in everything and it's one of my favorite things about you."

Sonam is married to businessman Anand Ahuja and splits her time between India and the UK. Her last release was The Zoya Factor, and she recently shot for a film titled Blind.