Mumbai: Sidharth Malhotra, whose next film 'Ek Villain' will hit the screens this Friday, has rubbished all the talks about landing plum projects in Bollywood because of his mentor and filmmaker Karan Johar.
Before becoming an actor, Sidharth worked as an assistant director to Karan for 'My Name Is Khan' (2010). It was he who gave a break to Sidharth as an actor in 'Student of the Year'. The actor's next film 'Hasee Toh Phasee' too was backed by the filmmaker.
Though his third film 'Ek Villain' is produced by Ekta Kapoor but other projects that are in the actor's kitty like 'The Warrior' remake and 'Priceless' remake are backed by Karan, strengthening the perception that he is promoting Sidharth.
But the actor says that Karan is far too busy to 'push' his career.
"There are three projects as of now - out of which two are Dharma Productions and one is Balaji Telefilms. If I knew Karan had such a hold on other things I will request him to get me more work," Sidharth told the agency.
"I think he (Karan) has far more work and he has no time. If people think that if I am not apt for a particular kind of a role and if somebody makes a phone call.. It is that easy I wish people keep making millions of phone calls and I keep getting films," he said.
However the 29-year-old actor is grateful to Karan for giving him the break as an actor. "He is someone who is next to my parents... My family.
I am grateful to him for showing trust and confidence in me. I am thankful to him he is the reason why I am here," he added.
Sidharth started his journey in Bollywood with two other newcomers Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt and they appreciate each other's work. Sidharth does agree that competition exists but it is healthy. "I think we are all aware about the competition. We all believe in healthy competition. I think with the relationship that we share with each other, we pull each other's leg on competition," Sidharth said.
"There is no way of dealing with competition. We are all very competitive and hardworking and we all want to do best and better. It is not that I won't talk to someone because his film has done well. But just by not talking or having a fight will we become better...No," he said.
