Many new producers… more opportunities, says Sidharth Malhotra!

Even as star kids continue to enjoy easy passes into acting careers in Bollywood, actor Sidharth Malhotra tells there are more than enough opportunities for youngsters whose families are not a part of the movie industry.

At the inauguration of a casting studio started by famous casting director Mukesh Chhabra (who was instrumental in Sidharth being cast in his next movie Ek Villain), Sidharth rejected the belief that newcomers with no family connections to the industry have a hard time finding a foothold, and declared, “I have got the best launch in the last three years; I got launched by Dharma Productions! I cannot say that outsiders are not making it!” Encouraging strugglers to see the brighter side, he further added, “There are so many new producers and a vast increase in the number of films being made, so now everyone is getting opportunities. Of course, nothing is easy but opportunities have increased. The rest depends on your talent.”

Success did not come easy for the Ek Villain actor either as he too had to go through a series of auditions to prove his talent before he finally got the break in Karan Johar’s Student Of The Year. He remembered, “I was shooting for My Name is Khan (as an assistant director) when Karan Johar observed Varun (Dhawan) and me. He made us audition not once but six times! He made us dance, act, cry and only when he truly believed that we had potential, he finalised us.” With a laugh, Sidharth reveals, “My first audition was terrible … I had to do the same audition four times just to convince them that I could do the job.”

Sidharth, who has been playing the good boy in his movies so far will be seen as a gangster in Ek Villain, and he thanked Mukesh for helping him with the role. Sidharth declared that he was able to pull of the role in a better way thanks to a workshop with Mukesh. He told, “Mukesh teaches a lot. He made us (Shraddha Kapoor and me) do crazy stuff during the workshops so that we could perform our characters better.”

The well-known casting couch might take a backseat in the days of professional casting agencies. Sidharth definitely believes the casting couch is old news. He told, “I think it (the casting couch) is very passé. I never had to experience anything like that. Maybe it happened ages ago. I don’t think anyone would spend so much money on another just for personal favors.”