Sooraj Pancholi is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi-language films. The son of actors Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, he debuted with the 2015 romantic action film Hero, for which he won a Filmfare Award for Best Newcomer. He also starred in the 2019 action drama film Satellite Shankar opposite Megha Akash. In his FIRST podcast post getting acquitted in his 12-year-long legal battle with Bollywood Bubble, Sooraj Pancholi opened up his court case and recalled his difficult times of people judging him.
Sooraj Pancholi Opens Up On His Legal Battle
When asked about how he dealt with his court case, Sooraj Pancholi said, “Especially when all the fingers are pointing at you. And when you know that you haven’t done anything wrong, it’s very difficult to explain or prove it. You’re just lost for words. In my trial, I had the option to take a discharge—I don’t know if people understand how the legal system works. I could have been discharged years ago. Yes, I could have been acquitted long ago. But I told my lawyer—and I sat down with my dad and said—’If I get acquitted now, people will say it’s because I have a golden spoon in my mouth, and that’s why I was let off.’”
Sooraj Pancholi Reveals Winning Court Case On His Merit
He said, “I said, ‘Dad, I want to go through the trial. I don’t know how long it will take, but if I go through it, every single question will be answered in court. People will know who was wrong and who was right.’ I went through a 12-year-long court procedure. After 12 years, my trial finally took place. And I won my trial on merit. I waited 12 years. I could have walked away long ago with a discharge, because they had no evidence against me. Even today, there is no evidence against me. If they had it, they should’ve brought it forward. But I won my case on merit, through a full trial.”
Sooraj Pancholi Regrets NOT Speaking Up For Himself
Continuing, he said, “If people know what a trial is, they’d understand: every question must be answered, and every answer is questioned. I went through that entire process and was acquitted—not guilty—because they had no evidence against me. But nobody talked about it. The media didn’t support me. Nobody supported me—because it didn’t give them the ‘masala’ they were looking for. I think my mistake was that I didn’t speak up for myself back then. A lot of people told me not to. But today, I feel that maybe if I had spoken up back then, people would’ve heard my side of the story, which, till today, I’ve never really shared. And I never will. It’s done now.”
Sooraj Recalls His Tough Days
In the same interview, Pancholi added, “But people don’t see that I went through a trial and was acquitted. People still comment, saying ‘justice for [so-and-so].’ What justice? I went through the entire justice system. I waited 12 years, sacrificed my entire career. Trust me, if I had a choice between doing a film or facing trial, I would choose trial. Because I wanted a clean chit for my life through this trial. If I hadn’t gone through it, maybe people could say justice wasn’t served. But I did go through it.”
Concluding, the actor said, “So if people are still questioning me, then I don’t know what else a person can do. What else can a human being do? What more can a law-abiding citizen do? I was 21 years old when I had to face this. Yes, I was 21. And it took 12 years to be resolved. Imagine that—for any 20-year-old. I didn’t even have a passport. I could only travel for work. The whole world was pointing fingers at me, and at the same time, I was just trying to understand myself, trying to understand life, trying to understand what love is, what work is, what a career is, what my path is.”
Watch The Full Interview
Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Sooraj Pancholi Considers Himself An OUTCAST In Bollywood Following His 12-Year-Long Legal Battle; Says, “There’s Nepotism And Then There’s Outsiders, But I Was…”