Sooraj Pancholi: Biography, Girlfriend, Net Worth 2023!

Sooraj Pancholi is an Indian assistant director-turned-actor who works in the Hindi film industry. He is best known as the son of the Bollywood actor couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab. Sooraj made his acting debut with ‘Hero’ – a romantic action movie released in 2015. 

The actor bagged the Filmfare award for Best Newcomer in 2016 for his performance in the first movie. Sooraj has a massive fan following on social media platforms with a whopping 1.8 million followers on Instagram.

Physical Stats

Sooraj Pancholi Family

Sooraj was born on 9 November 1990. His father Aditya Pancholi is an actor, producer, and playback singer who works in Hindi cinema.

Sooraj’s mother Zarina Wahab is also an actress who majorly appears in Hindi and Malayalam films. Sooraj also has an elder sister by the name of Sana who is a restaurateur based in Goa.

Relationship

In 2013, Sooraj was in a relationship with Jia Khan, an actress. Jia acted in three Hindi movies and she rose to fame with Nishabd, a movie starring Amitabh Bachchan.

Later, in June 2013, Jia committed suicide leaving a suicide note blaming her strained relationship with Sooraj as the reason behind her death.

In May 2019, the media reported that Sooraj is dating Larissa Bonesi, a Brazilian model and actress for three years. Larissa has acted in a couple of Telugu movies and has portrayed the role of Anjali in Thikka and Roshini in Next Enti.

Sooraj Pancholi Education

Sooraj went to a Pali Hill school in Mumbai, which was once the most sought-after school by Bollywood’s elite class. Later, Sooraj joined an open school, but academics were not his priority.

Sooraj Pancholi Car collections

Sooraj Pancholi is a proud owner of several luxury cars such as the Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG, 

Mercedes ML 250D, Toyota Fortuner, BMW 5-Series, and Jaguar XJL.

Controversies

On June 3rd, 2013, Sooraj’s girlfriend Jia was found dead at her Juhu home by her mother, Rabia. Eventually, on June 10th, Sooraj was arrested by the Mumbai police for his alleged involvement in the case, accusing him of charges such as threat, assault, and rape. However, later Sooraj was granted bail by the Mumbai high court for a surety of Rs.50,000.

Later, Jia’s mother Rabia told a special court in Mumbai that months before her death, her daughter had accused Sooraj of abusing her physically and verbally. She had also accused Sooraj of murdering her daughter.

However, Sooraj’s parents Aditya and Zarina had said that their son is innocent. The trial proceedings of Jia’s suicide case was going on all these years and in all probabilities, the Mumbai court will pronounce its verdict on April 28th, 2023. 

Sooraj Pancholi Profession

Before making his entry into Bollywood, Sooraj joined a prestigious acting school and learned acting lessons. Eventually, the star kid also learned dance as well as martial arts.

Later, Sooraj made his debut in the Hindi film industry as an assistant director. His first project was ‘ Guzaarish’, a movie directed by ace director Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Later, he went on to assist director Kabir Khan in the movie ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ which had Salman Khan in the lead role. In the sets of ‘Ek Tha Tiger’, Sooraj got a chance to work closely with Salman and it proved to be the turning point in his acting career.

In 2015, Salman Khan turned producer with ‘Hero’, a remake of the 1983 blockbuster movie directed by Subhash Ghai. In the movie, Salman roped in Sooraj as the hero and he was cast opposite Athiya Shetty, daughter of actor Sunil Shetty.

Later, Sooraj went on to act in ‘Satellite Shankar’, a Bollywood movie directed by Irfan Kamal where he was paired opposite Megha Akash. It was followed by ‘Time to Dance’, a 2021 dance film directed by Stanley D’Costa.

Apart from movies, Sooraj has also appeared in a couple of music videos such as GF BF and Dim Dim Lights.

Sooraj Pancholi Net Worth

As per sources, Sooraj’s net worth stands at $5 million. Apart from acting, Sooraj also earns money through brand endorsements. He was roped in as the brand ambassador by German TMX, a company that deals with TMX Bars, MS Billets, and Sponge Iron.

Lesser Known Facts About Sooraj Pancholi

• When he was arrested in connection with the Jian Khan case, for a month, Sooraj was put inside the most secluded cell at the Arthur Road jail. The actor later said that he didn’t have contact with anyone and even newspapers were not available. According to Sooraj, he was completely numb and all the time he was thinking that he lost somebody whom he loved.

• Sooraj was nervous while acting with his father Aditya in the movie ‘Hero’. However, according to Sooraj, his dad was more nervous as it was very emotional for him. 

• When Sooraj was signed by Salman Khan for the lead role in ‘Hero’, he didn’t disclose the matter even to his parents for one and a half years. According to the actor, he felt shy to tell them as they never discussed films at home.

• While commenting about the Jia Khan case, Sooraj’s mother Zarina said that her son is innocent and she feels helpless. According to her, when Sooraj looks at her, she can feel his pain and she is not able to look into his eyes.  

• Sooraj deleted his Twitter account during the time his father Aditya was accused of physical abuse by Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut. Before deleting his microblogging platform account, Sooraj made a humble request to all media platforms to spare him and his sister from the ongoing controversy.

• Though rumors were rife that Sooraj is dating Athiya Shetty, his co-star in the ‘Hero’ movie, the actor denied all those rumors stating that he doesn’t think they can ever date since they don’t have that kind of feelings for each other.

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