Kriti Sanon reveals her mother thought she was not cut-out for the film industry, gave her example of Priyanka Chopra

Kriti Sanon

Kriti Sanon bagged her first National Film Award for Best Actor last year for her performance in 'Mimi'. She made her acting debut in Bollywood in the year 2014 with the film 'Heropanti'. Even before she completed a decade in the industry, she bagged her first National award and is among the top stars of the industry. However, becoming an actor was not an easy choice for her as she faced resistance from her family. Her parents are both into academics- a CA father and the mother, a professor.

Talking to Neha Dhupia on the show 'No Filter Neha', Kriti recalled how she convinced her parents to get on board for her dream of becoming an actor. She said, "When I started modelling, my dad was against it. He felt, ‘it would distract her, kya faida hai (what's the use)? She is a studious kid'." She continued, "I was very very nerdy and yet I wanted to be a model. But before you start it professionally, they make your parents sign a contract because you are still really young."

However, the actress also maintained how her father eased into the idea slowly with time. "My Dad eventually opened up to the idea when he used to see my ads on television. In fact, he would be the first one to call people in the room and be like ‘oh her ad is coming'."

Talking about how her mother initially reacted to her choice of becoming an actor, she revealed, "I think my mom was very concerned because I was a very shy kid, extremely shy. My first photoshoot, my first ramp show, I have come back crying. So they have both gone badly. My first ramp show, I messed up the choreography. Someone scolded me in front of 50 models. I came back crying. My photoshoot, I was extremely nervous and I could sense that I was really not doing a good job. And I sat in the auto and I came back crying. And I was like "Mom, I don't think I can do this". And her point was that you know, people in this industry are very thick-skinned. She used to give me examples of people like Priyanka Chopra, like look at how confident they are. You are pretty shy as a person and maybe you can't handle this, maybe it's not for you. And I think somewhere I have over time taught myself confidence. I had stage fright. I think they also probably didn't know that I could do it. So they did discourage me in the beginning".

She further revealed how her modelling career acted as a stepping stone for her acting career and shared, "When I started doing the TV commercials, I realized that I like being in front of the camera, I had never ever acted before. I used to always be in the dance group, so I was acting but dramatics tha nahi kabhi (was never there). That's when I realized that I started dreaming of becoming an actor. My parents started to realize that I was sort of thinking about it. I told them that I want to try for films and their point was you need to complete your B-Tech and get a degree. We are not letting you go until then." What happened later is something we all know!