Clearly, there is a comfort zone that exists, the kind of zone where peaches ripen into a perfect orange-gold. A perfect period in time, except for that odd regret. "I still have to deliver on those box-office bonanzas, and some of my decisions have led to situations that I never asked for I refused Kal Ho Naa Ho and that upset Karan. I hope things will get back to normal between us, I don't want to lose him as a friend ever. I value him too much," she trails off. But at the moment, all is well, all she can see is a pile of challenging assignments including Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani and Ritoparno Ghosh's next project.

To the standard query today as to whether she'd be interested in cross-over cinema, she throws her head back and laughs uproariously, "Why would I want to do that? Bollywood is good enough for me. Maybe a certain actress wants to try her luck in Hollywood, but that's not for me, thank you! I'm not going to spout some politically correct stuff just to get myself covered in international media!" For this 23-year-old veteran of 16 odd films, it's Bollywood forever. "Oh, I'm so happy Getting up in the morning, seeing my mother's face first thing is like a blessing, then going to the studio, putting on make-up for all those millions who are going to see me on screen Ek ajeeb sa nasha hai"