Arjun Kapoor: My mom always said Salman was godsend

Arjun Kapoor, who gives credit to Salman Khan for his foray into acting, says his mother Mona credits the superstar with seeing his potential.

"When I was an assistant, I spent a lot of time with him...I think it came from an emotional connect. My mother always said he is godsend," the 27-year-old told reporters here Thursday at the unveiling of Men's Health magazine cover featuring him.

Initially Arjun, who worked as an assistant director on Salman starrer "Salaam-e-ishq", was only interested in direction.

"One night he (Salman) said you should become an actor and I looked at him and then I looked at myself. I said, 'You want me to become an actor? I am very happy being a director and I will write, I have no interest in acting'," he said.

Salman told him that being a producer's son, Arjun can become a director anyday.

"He (Salman) said you will wake up 10 years from now regretting not giving acting a try. Give it your best shot. The worst that can happen is that you won't make it as an actor, but at least you have to try."

Arjun, who weighed 140 kg, lost extra pounds before making his debut in "Ishaqzaade".

His next is Yash Raj Films's "Aurangzeb", coming out May 17. Directed by Atul Sabharwal, "Aurangzeb" also stars Prithviraj Sukumaran, Amrita Singh, Jackie Shroff, Rishi Kapoor.