Mumbai, Jan 30 (IANS): It's always thought that Bollywood's star children have it easy, but actress Sonam Kapoor says that at the very beginning of her film career, she had decided not to make the most of her father Anil Kapoor's popularity.

"When I joined the film industry, I became very defensive because people were so mean. They were like, 'She is Anil's daughter and she will get things very easily'. So I said, 'I am never going to use my dad for anything'," Sonam, who forayed into acting with "Saawariya", said.

From there on, Sonam says "I did everything on my own".

"I called the directors on my own. I never called my dad for help. My dad said to me, 'I have worked very hard for 50 years so that my children can have a better life. Why aren't you using it?'.

"He says, 'I have done this for you guys, so use it'. But I was like, 'I can do it on my own'. But no matter how much I did, people still say it's because of my dad," added the actress, who went on to feature in movies like "Raanjhanaa" and "Khoobsurat".

Now Sonam's brother Harshvardhan is set to make his film debut via Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's "Mirziya".