Karan Johar is the reason why I am here today: Sidharth Malhotra

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 PTI.

"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.

Recently, there were reports that Varun and Sidharth got into a heated argument at Karan's party. Sidharth is amused by such gossip. "The spat between Varun and me at Karan's party came from no where. We both tried to fight on the phone but then we started laughing and it did not work. We don't know who writes such rubbish things," Sidharth said.

"Varun and I know each other for the longest time before becoming actors. I don't think there is anything that we cannot talk to each other so why would we have an issue in anything," he said.

Sidharth is excited about 'Ek Villain', where he has gone against his conventional image. "In 'Ek Villain' I am going beyond my comfort zone. So that filmmakers and directors would see that there are two different spectrums that I can do. It will open more avenues for me in terms of script, I will get more options. If this film does well then there is another genre of films I can do, so more work will come my way which is great," he added.

The film directed by Mohit Suri also stars Riteish Deshmukh and Shraddha Kapoor in the lead.