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On the Milky Way

Lata Khubchandani

It was Santosh Sivan's Terrorist that made us all notice a certain young actress called Ayesha Dharker.

John Malkovich, the Hollywood actor, was so impressed by the film that he raved about it in The New York Times, and promoted it all he could. With good result: Terrorist ran in some 90 theatres of the US.

Today, that exposure has landed Ayesha a role in the magnificent Star Wars: Episode II. After her brief roles in Arabian Nights and City of Joy, this is another feather in the cap for the Indian actress who wasn't even born when Star Wars first released.

Tomorrow, she flies to Australia for her costume trial for the film.

"I've just congratulated her," says Shashi Kapoor. "She has done our film industry proud."

"She's very talented," he continues. "I saw Terrorist. She was really very, very good. I've seen her in Arabian Nights too. That was a minor role, but she was good."

Film-maker Shyam Benegal agrees. "She's a very talented actress," he feels. "I've seen her work from the very beginning. I was a judge for one of her school plays and we gave her the best actress award. She's never looked back since then.

"She'll go far. Her opportunities are increasing. I think she's got a wonderful career on the international screen."

Ayesha will also be working in Ismail Merchant's Mystic Masseur -- based on V S Naipaul's novel -- where she will be playing the lead role.

Her parents, expectedly, are elated. "She has showed an interest in acting from the time she was a baby. She took part in all school plays. She never showed any signs of stage fright," recalls her father, columnist and former editor Anil Dharker.

The plays, which were directed by Pearl Padamsee, proved a very strong grounding for Ayesha. In school, she won the best actress award for three years running. Her initiation into the reel world began with the French film, Manika -- The Girl Who Lived Twice.

Ayesha was just nine then. The film made it to the Cannes Festival.

Then came the City Of Joy, where she played daughter to Om Puri and Shabana Azmi. After that was Saaz; she was again Azmi's daughter.

Terrorist followed. At the Cairo Film Festival, Sivan's offering won the Best Film, Best Actress and Best Director awards.

It also won over Malkovich, who was the chairman of the jury. He became a patron of the film and it was shown all over America as 'John Malkovitch presents Santosh Sivan's Terrorist.'

Did Ayesha ever show signs of wanting to do something else?

"Not really," replies her father. "This whole acting thing started so early that there wasn't anything else one could think of. She graduated in English literature from St Xavier's and is a good writer -- but she thought there are too many writers in the family."

RELATED LINKS
Terrorist in 'overlooked' films fest
Everyone loves this terrorist
How John Malkovich god-fathered Terrorist
Getting into the head of a suicide bomber

EXTERNAL LINKS
Star Wars
Star Wars: Casting Update