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Coffee dreams with Esha
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This star kid is all down to earth
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PHOTO: BHAGYA PRAKASH K
NO AIRS Esha Deol: `We're more outgoing; we reach out a lot more'
She's not all dazzle but she's not one you'll miss. In black cargos, T-shirt and a cap, Esha was invitingly casual. Her sharp nose, well formed chin, a broad smile that gives away all her teeth — white all the way — superb black and copper hair, and wide-set eyes make her a fairly naughty charmer. Sure, she is no diva like her mother, the sensuous Hema Malini, but you could still land a line for this classical dancer of Tamil and Punjabi lineage.
It was literally rush hour at Eva Mall when the moment she arrived. The kids came first, for autographs, and then the bodyguards. They didn't want too many too close to her. Such a pity that. But in all fairness, it is the bodyguards that make you look for those silly little exploits in a star. They bring an aura of someone being precious. And when you make a star of someone, you cave in. You want the rush. The crowd went berserk as the high-voltage number "Dhoom" took off. The bodyguards then started moving her to the very classy Coffee World outlet where she was to make coffee. Outside the lounge, it was a mob, and inside, a frenzy. As she took her place behind the counter, the cameras clicked god knows how many times. You knew then that you could get to speak to her only in all that shooting because that's the only time on offer.
How's mum and dad and how's Bombay, you ask. "They're doing fine, but Bombay is not. You guys are chilling out here and we're suffering there. Why don't you come over and help us out? Lucky, my mum was in Parliament. She escaped all the rain. I? I had to walk in rain with my puppy for all of four hours. Barefoot. I think you should all come and help us out," she said preparing coffee. No one would mind helping Esha out in the rain, puppy or no puppy.
And then she says: "OK, I'm a chef now. I am getting the coffee ready." And as she put sugar into glass, honey, milk and cream, there were innumerable shots, of her naughty winks and more conversation. The coffee with cream is ready. That looks great, Esha. Can I have sip too? She's all smiles. "You really want to? Come over this side of the counter and taste it." But there always has to be somebody to spoil the silly little romances of our lives. Intones a voice out of nowhere: "You can come over here, but you have to prepare your own coffee."
The kind of sport she was in those few minutes, you'd wager that she would've allowed for another straw in her coffee. That would've been a photo op.
You've to make up for the loss even if you've to settle for less. Even as she finishes her sip, folks seek autographs. Yet another silly romantic here. Would you sign with my pen? "Why not?" And signs one after another. Lucky pen that. But the bodyguards have to come again. Bundling out folks is their business and then fighting with them. It got to a fight because there was lot of bhangra happening outside the lounge.
You're so nice, why do folks always tell us you don't have time? She smiles a big smile this time and you get on. You ask her whether the stardom of her parents, Dharmendra and Hema Malini, cramped or helped her career. "I should say I grew up as a kid seeing my mom all the time. She has certainly been a greater influence on me than my dad. I've seen her 24/7 getting dressed up to get to work. 24/7. That's how much her life has been to me. Film had to be on my lips."
Not that dad didn't want her to get into films. He was eager and in fact in a hurry to see that she was in. Why hurry? Because she loved football, wanted to play the Nationals at Chandigarh, for which she was selected, but dad would have none of that because he was scared to send her. "But I told him that I wouldn't be getting into films if he didn't allow me to go. He had to."
You discover she loves football and that she played for college at the state-level. And that she loves Ronaldo.
What about loving mom and dad? "Not that I don't love my dad, but I love my mom more. I'm closer to her."
He knows that?
"He does."
Doesn't he feel bad?
"Not really. My sis anyway is closer to him."
You're with likes of Kareena, Rani, Aishwarya and you have a mom in Hema Malini. Are all of you as good as mom? "Look, we are a star-kids generation. People in mom's time were very good, but I wonder if we are more normal. We are more outgoing, friendly, we reach out a lot more. I enjoy that immensely. My mom was unreachable in many ways. They were all like that. But we learnt a lot of things from them."
What did she like best in Hema Malini? "My mom was very, very expressive. She didn't have to say anything really; I mean she didn't have to spell out things. She could say things through her eyes. She didn't need dialogues."
What about dad? "I think dad was handsome. He was the most handsome of the lot then and I still think he is."
But Aamir and Abhishek are good-looking aren't they? "No way, they're not a patch on my dad. I still have photographs how he looked those days. No one comes close." But she makes a concession in that she thinks Abhi, Zayed and John Abraham are great to work with.
Dad, Bobby and Sunny are all Punju. Is that a bit much at home? That's when she surprises you. "Yenakku aviyal romba pudikkum."
Man, that's very Iyer, isn't it? "Iyer or Iyengar, I like it. Neenga venumna Tamizhile interview pannalam. Naan Tamizhile interview pannuven, theriyuma?"
She is all Punjabi confidence and Tamil temperament. Punju or Tamil, or whatever else, what counts is she's Dhoom and 23.
PRASHANTH G.N.
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