Julia Roberts’ girl? Well, almost!

She’s about to embark on her first-ever trip alone — a month-long one in Germany where her grandparents stay — and actor Ayesha Kapur is thrilled. “I am going alone. I will just relax there. Mum will join me later and then we’ll go to Berlin,” she says.

It’s a sabbatical that she’s been looking forward to, having been busy in talks for several films, one of which she really hoped to get. “I had auditioned for Julia Roberts’ film Eat, Pray, Love.

Although I made it to the top five, I didn’t get selected. I wish I had got selected as I love Julia Roberts’ acting. It would have been exciting to do a film with her,” she rues. But there’s more — an Indo-Italian film that has her playing the lead role of a teenager. “I am still in talks for it; it’s a nice role, very unlike what I have done till now. I wish we could have more of these films,” she says.

Another film that she’s in talks for will give her the chance to engage in her other passion — riding! This 15-year-old is a national rank holder in dressage (a set of controlled movements that a rider trains a horse to perform).

“It’s a romantic film with horses that may happen at the end of this
year. Maybe Estigon (her Andalusian stallion) will be in it too. You can call it a dream role,” she smiles.

In between her acting classes and diction training, Ayesha is also preparing for this year’s national horse events — show jumping, dressage and cross country to be held in Bangalore at the year-end. Isn’t she going to find it a bit of a juggle?

“No, I love what I do, especially riding,” says Ayesha. “I must do different things. I am a very ambitious person. I want to write more as I often pen my thoughts down and recently when I turned into a bit of an entrepreneur, both mum and dad said they were proud of me. But they also make sure my brother and I are grounded. I have to follow rules but that’s fine,” she adds.

Life at home on her plush ranch is something that’s after her heart. “You know here in Pondy (Pondicherry), nobody treats me like an actor, I’m just Ayesha,” she ends.