Remember that powerhouse performance by 9-year old Ayesha Kapoor as the blind deaf and untamable Michelle in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black? The stunningly pretty child is regarded by many as the best child actor to ever emerge from Indian cinema. Preity Zinta certainly thinks so. She desperately wanted Ayesha to play the younger Preity in Jahnu Baruah's Har Pall. "She has my dimples and she has the talent. My God! I saw what she did in Black. I've worked with blind children and Ayesha knew exactly how blind kids behave. When you can't see, there's no control over the eyeballs. How Ayesha got that right, is a puzzle to me."
Preity for all her praise couldn't get Ayesha to play her childhood portions. Madhavan is the lucky guy to have got the chance to work with the Black enchantress. "It's a film that Piyush Jha (of the diasporic dramas King Of Hollywood and Chalo America fame) is making. Ayesha is on and I'm really looking forward to working with her," says Maddy, who will have good friend Sanjay Suri for company.
The film, expected to take off at the year-end, is set against the backdrop of Kashmiri militancy. Ayesha, with her glowing complexion and flowing tresses, will play a spirited Kashmiri girl and Farzan Dastoor plays a Kashmiri footballer. "So I guess after Black, Ayesha gets to do one more very challenging role. Child actors of today have a lot more to do than just act cute and cuddly. In films like Taare Zameen Par and Cheeni Kum, the child actor shared a one-to-one relationship with the protagonist," explains Maddy, whose son Vedant occupies all his attention.“I know how to connect with kids, thanks to my son. Even the slightest fever in Vedant brings all of us down. Vedant has the flu right now. And all of us are worried to death."
