Coming from a filmy background, it’s no wonder that Punit Malhotra’s inclination towards film and filmmaking happened at a very young age. Going by his family history - Ram Dayal Sabarwal the producer who launched Rekha is his nana, Suneel and Dharmesh Darshan are his nana's first cousins while Lali and David Dhawan are his dad’s first cousins and his biggest influence has been his chachu Manish Malhotra.

In fact, it was Manish who asked him to assist Karan Johar in ‘Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham’ while he was 19 - at a time when he had nothing to do after his college - which continued as he also assisted on ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’ and ‘Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna’. After his third film Karan who had already seen a director in him asked him if he wanted to direct. Karan agreed to invest his money if he had a good script and when Punit approached him, he immediately agreed and ‘I Hate Luv Storys’ happened.

Talking about Manish Malhotra, he is very protective about Punit. He would want him to party and enjoy but not on the cost of his work suffering. Punit finds himself very similar to Imran Khan due to which they share a very good rapport. He finds Avantika to be a perfect match for Imran as what Imran lacks, she makes up for him. He feels if he were a girl he would be safest with Imran.

Punit is very romantic at heart and is very attached to his mom. He hates god and hates the fact that people believe in god. He believes it’s better to help others rather than wasting time in praying.

On the other side, Punit who considers himself good-looking, silently dominating and hyper had started going to the gym to become an actor but today gym has become a part of his life. He would not refuse a role as an actor if a good one came his way in the future.

Currently Punit is keeping his fingers crossed on his latest venture ‘Gori Tere Pyaar Mein’, starring Imran and Kareena, which is slated to release on 22nd November.

We wish the young helmer all the very best!