EXCLUSIVE - Anil Kapoor on Sonam Kapoor: I am very proud of her that she has stuck to her conviction in these 10 years

Nothing makes a father more proud than seeing his daughter lead a successful career in her respective professional field. So, when we asked a proud father like Anil Kapoor about his stunning daughter Sonam Kapoor's achievements in Bollywood, he couldn't stop gushing over the fact of how proud he is of Sonam as she clocks 10 years in the industry.

In a quick telephonic interview, before I could mention about Sonam, Anil like an adorable father said that it is absolutely fantastic that the actress is in the industry for the past one decade. He stated, "10 years of Sonam is absolutely fantastic. When I saw your message I thought and even asked Sunita (Kapoor) that Saawariya released during Diwali 10 years back. Then, she said that time Diwali was on November 8 and 9."

Take a look at the few excerpts from the interview, where Anil spoke at length about his first reaction when Sonam said she wants to get into the movies, his favourite movies of his daughter and more.

Check out... 

On being a proud father

The one thing that I am most proud of about Sonam is that whatever she has achieved is on her own terms. The kind of films she wanted to do and the kind of filmmakers she had to work with, it's all by herself. Her whole career and choices of films have been very radical. That's what makes her unique. I am very proud of her that she has stuck to her conviction.

On his favourite Sonam Kapoor movies

I liked Delhi 6 and I loved her in Saawariya also, the way she looked on the screen was very beautiful. Then the other films I liked of hers was Raanjhanaa, Khoobsurat and also Neerja. Even Prem Ratan Dhan Payo with Sooraj Barjatya is my favourite film.

Actually, she has done very less work also which is so great. What I feel is this is the beginning. There are times when you reach 10 years and you are like, "Oh God! 10 years!". She has hardly done any work. She is not very exposed at all. We all actors and actresses used to do so many films in 10 years. What happens when you do lesser films is, your exposure is very less. What she has done till now is just a tip of the iceberg.

She has a long journey ahead not only as an actress. She is fantastic as an actress and has worked with such fine directors. More than that, they are all good human beings which made all the difference.

Besides being an actress, she is socially conscious. She has also been doing charity work and social work from the beginning of her career. Moreover, when she was schooling in Singapore, that was one of her initial stages of doing social work. It comes naturally to her something which has inherited from her mother and she has been doing it beside her acting and endorsements. Suddenly, she hasn't woken up and taken a cause, it has been there from the beginning within her.

On his first reaction when Sonam told she wanted to become an actress

I was surprised because she was assisting Bhansali. She then came up to me and said Bhansali wants to cast her and it surprised me. 

It surprised me more because these days all the girls and everybody groomed from the beginning to become actresses. You can see it in them that from two-three years they have been groomed like to get into dancing, social media, photographs and paparazzi, what to wear and what not to wear. 

She was never groomed to become an actress from her childhood. What I feel makes her more unique is that she lived how a normal child should live and not thinking of becoming an actress.

She had a very normal childhood. She studied in Arya Vidyamandir which is a great school. Then she went to Singapore to attend the college. Then she came back and became an assistant director as she liked the aesthetics, the colours, the costumes and more which she naturally gained from her mother. That's the reason she wanted to work with Bhansali as an assistant. That's why she never groomed 'groomed' which is the reason it took me time. Now the new actresses and who will be launched, from four to five years they are going to be groomed to become actresses.

She wanted to become a director and then she became an actress as Bhansali offered her the film, so I said fine. Bhansali felt that she can become an actress, she is beautiful and then her career started which came as a surprise to me.

On sisters Sonam and Rhea Kapoor making a great team

Let me tell you when Aisha released, everybody said that it was too much about fashion and that's the kind of films which work. Today, people talk about it as it was one of the first films to focus on it and that was their characters about as it was based on a book. Then came Khoobsurat, where we introduced Fawad Khan where she groomed him, dressed him up and marketed him, it was so wonderful and fantastic. Both Sonam and Rhea make a great team together and now they are doing Veere Di Wedding, which is again about friends and how girls would speak and behave normally and naturally in today's times. 

A special message to Sonam

My message to her is that acting and everything is one small part of your life. Your full life has to be more than this and next 10 years, 20 years, she can do much greater as an actress and fantastic as a star and in fashion. Also in other spheres of life including social work and everything, she will achieve more.