Never faced nepotism in film industry: Anushka Sharma

Mumbai: Actress Anushka Sharma today said that she never faced nepotism in her decade-long career in Bollywood despite being an outsider.

Actress Kangana Ranaut had called filmmaker Karan Johar the "flag bearer of nepotism" on his talk show, leading to a war of words between the director and the actress.

Anushka, who made her acting debut in 2008 with Aditya Chopra's "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi", said she got a chance to make it big in the industry without a godfather.

"The production house which launched me, I can't talk like that about them because they gave an outsider like me a chance," Anushka said in an interview here.

The actress said Yash Raj Films could have easily taken an industry kid on board but they have given a chance to many outsiders.

"They did have an option to take any industry kid at that time but Aditya Chopra put faith in me. I can talk about my experience and I've never faced nepotism in any way. Whether this happens or not, everybody has their own experiences. May be it happens but I can never say this about Aditya. He has launched all the outsiders. Me, Ranveer Singh, Pareeniti Chopra. Except for Arjun (Kapoor), all the Yash Raj talent are outsiders."

The 28-year-old actress is currently gearing up for her upcoming production "Phillauri", in which she stars opposite Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh.

The romantic-drama chronicles the story of a young man (Suraj Sharma) who meets a friendly spirit (Anushka) after he reluctantly marries a tree to ward off any threats to his love life.

The film is scheduled to release on March 24.