Meet Athiya Shetty, Salman Khan’s Newest Find, Set to Debut in ‘Hero’

Athiya Shetty is Bollywood royalty. She is the daughter of actor Suniel Shetty and has a famous benefactor pushing her cause, namely Salman Khan. Set to make her debut in the Khan produced remake Hero, Shetty, along with her co-star Soorjai Pancholi, have been the beneficiaries of tireless work by Salman Khan. Not only has he provided the duo with a huge opportunity, Khan has worked hard promoting the two young actors and the project.

Shetty sat down with the website 9xe.com and discussed a wide range of topics. Like any field, the thrill of being accepted and or complemented by your peers or co-workers is a thrill for actors and actresses, and Shetty got none bigger than from Salman Khan's father screenwriter Salim. After an industry insider showing of Hero, the elder Khan paid what the actress deemed the nicest praise she has gotten thus far, "The best compliment I received is from Salman sir's father, Salim Khan Saab. He told me that I have expressive eyes and I emote very well. I felt ecstatic."

Understandably, Shetty chose Salman Khan over Shah Ruhk Khan when asked which one she preferred. She made it clear that she was not putting down SRK, or picking Salman's movies. SRK has professed that he is a big fan of Shetty, but she feels an allegiance to Salman that is very understandable.

Shetty always wanted to be an actress but was scared to tell her father as much. From Hindustan Times, Shetty related, "I wanted to be an actor since I was little. It has always been my passion and my dream. My father got to know about it much later. I used to do everything hiding in my room, like dancing in front of the mirror and all of that."

In conjunction with being an actress, Shetty was on her way to the US to look at potential colleges when she finally revealed to her father that she wanted to be an actress. Back to the Hindustan Times article for this, "I was going to look at all these colleges in America and we were at Heathrow Airport, London. I got really upset. My father asked me what happened and before I could say anything I started crying and said 'I want to become an actress.' He asked me 'But why are you crying', and I said 'I don't know what you will think about it'."