I’m riding a dream, says Ayesha Kapur

“I have never been to the cinema back home,” declares Ayesha Kapur, her dancing eyes and features the only giveaway to her 14 years. The actor explains, “You know, the only Hindi films I did see were in Mumbai — my own, Black and Sikandar, that’s it. I’ve grown up on Hollywood, really.”

She’s just been in and out of the city after her recent film hit theatres, and she’s already been inundated with new offers. But she seems to have her choices planned out. “I’m not pushing myself into anything. I really love school and try not to miss lessons so if I have to stay away, the roles must be good enough. I want to really act you know,” she leans forward to state, “No aimless masala for me,” she says, adding she’d have no qualms playing an older girl. “I’m 14 going on 20 where my roles are concerned.”

Ayesha has led a sheltered life in a plush bungalow with her parents, Dilip Kapur and Jacqueline (of Hidesign), brother Milan and her Andalusian stallions, so when she stepped into the hurly burly of films, she probably had to grow up faster than youngsters her age. “Well, that’s true, but I think a large part of me is still a child. I have strong values,” she admits, adding that she does find fame “a little weird.” “Sometimes If I come across someone wanting to take my picture, I find myself asking, ‘Why, me?’ And that’s what I like about my hometown; in Auroville, I’m not an actor there, just Ayesha, as we are a small close-knit community. Plus, I don’t think I’d ever allow fame to change the person I am,” she adds.

And when she’s not into her books, Ayesha spends about seven hours riding her stallion Estigon. She is a national rank holder in the Dressage event. “There’s so much you learn from animals. My horse riding has taught me to surmount difficulties,” she says. And in between she’s about to start her formal acting, dancing  and diction lessons. “Up until now, I had no planning for it since Bollywood happened quite by chance,” she informs.

If life is a learning curve, Ayesha would like it to be a vibrant rainbow filled with travel and some acting thrown in. “For now, I’m riding a dream and I don’t want it to end,” she sighs.