Ayesha Takia (top) strikes a pose and (above) with Vivek Oberoi in a scene from the film Home Delivery

No frills, no attitude. There’s something alluring about Ayesha Takia that stops her from getting lost in the crowd of starlets in Bollywood. The fact that she grabbed the IIFA and Filmfare awards for the Best Debut (Female) in 2004 in Tarzaan ? The Wonder Car and Dil Maange More shows that her career is on the right track. Though her last film Socha Na Tha in 2005 got a lukewarm response at the box office, the critics singled her out as a stunning, intelligent star in the making with acting potential.

Now she has even more to be upbeat about because her film Home Delivery directed by Sujoy Ghosh of Jhankaar Beats fame is about to be released. Besides Ayesha, the movie stars Vivek Oberoi, Boman Irani and Mahima Chaudhry among others. Ayesha plays Vivek’s girlfriend who wants nothing more than to get married and settle down. Produced by Sahara Ones Motion Picture and Percept Picture, Home Delivery is slated to release on December 2.

That’s not all. For an actress who hasn’t had a smash hit to her credit, Ayesha is doing extraordinarily well. She’s juggling schedules and working on Satish Kaushik’s film Shaadi Se Pehle opposite Akshaye Khanna. She’s also in Naseeruddin Shah’s first directorial film Yun Hota To Kya Hota along with other actors like Konkona Sen Sharma, Irfan Khan and Paresh Rawal. “I am very excited about this film where I play a socialite. It’s an emotionally charged role and there are some wonderful moments for which I put in a lot of effort,” she says.

In the pipeline are two more films which she’s currently filming ? Vashu Bhagnani’s Chor Police where she plays a cop opposite Zayed Khan and Nikhil Advani’s Salaam-E-Ishq in which she’s pitted opposite Akshaye Khanna as his love interest. So whom does she consider to be competition in Bollywood? She sidesteps the issue saying she’s out to make her mark by entertaining people and not to be in the numbers game. Her criterion for accepting roles is simple: the character, the script and the director’s conviction about the film.

But first off the mark will be Home Delivery. The movie is about a guy called Sunny Chopra (Vivek Oberoi), a budding screenplay writer, a newspaper columnist and Jenny’s boyfriend. His favourite pastime is playing pranks on the home delivery person Michael Brunett (Boman Irani). “It’s an out-an-out comedy and I had a great time acting in it,” she says.

She’s not just another piece of eye-candy, but extremely quick to pick up things. Though she’s just 20 and learning the tricks of acting, Ayesha seems remarkably in control. She’s warm and easy to talk to and radiates a zest for life when she’s working. Says director Ghosh, “I always like to work with actors who are positive and emit a certain level of enthusiasm. Ayesha was not only observant but also keen to learn the techniques of acting.”

That she has made all the right moves as a newcomer is evident from the films she has appeared in. Unlike other starlets who claim to have stumbled into modelling and acting by chance, Takia makes no bones about her aspirations. She’s a Gujarati born in Mumbai, and made her first appearance on screen when she was only four.

The result was that she got an early start and as a child model, endorsed a range of brands like VIP suitcases, Cibaca toothpaste, Complan and Godrej refrigerators. When she was 15 she got her first break in Falguni Pathak’s music video Meri Chunar directed by Radhika Rao. But the turning point came when she was featured in the DJ Aqueel’s album Shake It Daddy. “I had been lucky because certain things just fell into place for me. I have no godfather in this industry, I am on my own,” she says.

After the success of these music albums, Ayesha was signed by Vijayta films for Socha Na Tha directed by Imtiaz Ali opposite Abhay Deol. The movie, released this year, revolved around a boy (Abhay Deol) whose family wants him to marry Ayesha. But he believes you must know a person before marriage, so refuses to go through with it. Later they get to know each other and end up running away together.

Though this movie was supposed to be her debut film in 2004, it was stalled and Ayesha went on to sign Abbas Mustan’s Tarzaan ? The Wonder Car opposite another newcomer Vatsal Seth. “When my debut film got stuck in the middle I went through a traumatic time. I thought the movie would never see the light of the day. I was under a contract with Vijayta films not to sign any movie until Socha Na Tha is released. But I went ahead and signed Tarzaan ? the Wonder Car in 2003, which however failed to impress people,” she says.

After her no-show debut film, came Dil Mange More in 2004 directed by Ananth Mahadevan where she was cast opposite Shahid Kapoor. In this film, she shared screen space with two other budding actresses ? Soha Ali Khan and Tulip Joshi. Unfortunately, the film bombed.

Ayesha insists that she wants to reach the top ? the right way. “I’m ambitious but I cannot sign films that are below my standards. I want to do good work and not shed clothes at the drop of a hat. I don’t want to compromise on my principles nor will I tread on other people’s toes to reach the top,” she declares.

There have been rumours in recent months that Ayesha is about to quit films to marry her boyfriend. She brushes them aside, saying, “That’s simply rubbish. I like to keep my personal life separate from my professional one. If I was to quit, I wouldn’t have signed so many films,” she laughs.

As for her careergraph, she insists that her current mission in life is to prove her talent in meaningful films. She however, maintains that she’s open to all kinds of films. “Though comedy has been my forte in some of my earlier films, I don’t want to be stereotyped only in this genre. I want to experiment with different roles under acclaimed film-makers,” she says.

And as Bollywood anoints her the sexy actress oozing lots of oomph, she takes her new-found status in her stride. In an industry where lives are made and destroyed every Friday and where fame is a fickle mistress, Ayesha seems to have her feet firmly on the ground. No wonder then that producers are queuing up to sign her. Certainly, she’s busy racing from one set to another. And one day, one of her films is sure to click.