Sooraj kept 'Hero' offer from parents for over a year

Emerging actor Sooraj Pancholi says that he told his parents, actors Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab of the "Hero" offer only after more than a year.

"I never told them that I wanted to be an actor. In fact, when I was offered 'Hero', I didn't tell mom and dad for one to one and half years. And only when I received the narration of 'Hero', I told mom and dad about the offer and asked them if I should do it and they told me that if I wanted to do it, I should do it. So there was no pressure," he said a media interaction at launch of a cover featuring him and his mentor Salman Khan for 'Stardust' magazine.

Both of Sooraj's parents, Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab are respected actors and there's some pressure on a star kid to live up to those credentials. But Sooraj differs.

"I do belong to a film family but my family is not at all filmy. And we've never discussed films at home. We don't watch films together. I've seen only two films of my mom and about 2-4 films of dad. So it was never like that."

Sooraj also stated that the bond between him and Salman grew on the sets of Kabir Khan's "Ek Tha Tiger" where he was the last assistant. Post the film, Salman offered him the film on the occasion of his birthday late in the night.

"Hero" is a remake of the successful film directed by Subhash Ghai, which is being helmed by Nikhil Advani this time. The film is co-produced by Salman and also marks the debut of Athiya Shetty.