Why Ayesha Jhulka Stepped Away From Films

‘I’ve
not
been
doing
much
work
because
I
was
not
getting
the
kind
of
roles
I
want
to
do.’

Aamir
Khan’s
60th
birthday
had
us


flashbacking
to
many
of
his
earlier
films,
among
them
the
coming-of-age
sports
drama

Jo
Jeeta
Wohi
Sikandar.

We
caught
up
with

Ayesha
Jhulka,
who
played
Anjali,
the
girl-next-door
with
a
secret
crush
on
Aamir’s
Sanjay.

Three
decades
have
passed
since,
and
Ayesha
hasn’t
changed
much.

She’s
still
the

desi
girl
who,
in
the
’90s,
made
not
just
Aamir
but
even
Salman
Khan,
Mithun
Chakraborty
and
Akshay
Kumar’s
hearts
beat
faster.

At
the
turn
of
the
century,
she
found
her
real-life
Romeo
and
settled
down.

Since
then,
the
actress
has
been
seen
on
screen
only
occasionally.

Speaking
to



Rediff.com
Senior
Contributor

Roshmila
Bhattacharya,
Ayesha
says,
“I
was
tired
of
the
bubby
roles
and
wanted
to
do
something
more
meaningful,
a
shift
that
happens
with
every
actress
after
a
certain
age.”

Do
people
still
walk
up
to
you
and
talk
about

Jo
Jeeta
Wohi
Sikandar
and
Anjali?

Oh
yes,
and
along
with

Jo
Jeeta
Wohi
Sikandar,

Khiladi,
Kurbaan,
Dalaal
and
surprisingly,

Balma
too.

The
songs
of
these
films
are
still
very
popular
which,
I
guess,
is
why
they
live
on.

Also,
some
of
the
characters
I
played,
like
Anjali,
have
stayed
on
in
people’s
minds.

(Laughs)
Some
tell
me
I
still
look
the
same
which
is
sweet,
but
not
really
true
because
as
you
grow
older,
you
grow
up
and
your
perspective
of
life
changes.

How
difficult
was
it
for
you
to
navigate
the
’90s
when
you
were
at
the
peak
of
your
career?

Honestly,
I
was
very
young
then
and
there
was
no
premeditated
plan
that
I
followed
which
is
how
it
happens
now.

I
just
went
with
the
flow.
My
career
was
shaped
by
my
dedication
and
my
performances.

At
the
turn
of
the
century,
you
cut
down
on
work.
Was
it
because
of
marriage?

Yes,
I
did
get
married,
but
that
wasn’t
the
reason.

I
was
doing
a
mainstream
romantic-action
film
called

Run,
produced
by
Boney
Kapoor
and
Srideviji.

But
there
was
a
shift,
both
personal
and
professional.

I
wanted
time
for
myself
and
my
family
which
I
had
been
missing
out
on
for
almost
20
years
because
I
was
doing
back-to-back
films.

I
wanted
to
do
all
the
things
I
never
had
time
for,
like
art
and
travel.

The
film
industry
was
going
through
a
lot
of
changes
with
corporates
coming
in
and
not
too
many
individual
producers
remaining
in
the
race.
 

I
was
tired
of
the
bubby
roles
and
wanted
to
do
something
more
meaningful,
a
shift
that
happens
with
every
actress
after
a
certain
age.

So
I
took
a
step
back
but
I
did
not
quit
acting.

I
was
doing
plays
and
films
too,
like

Socha
Na
Tha,
Umrao
Jaan
and

Genius

Which
roles
have
challenged
you
as
an
actor?

There
was
a
film
titled

Amma
in
2003
which
marked
editor
Amitabh
Shukla’s
directorial
debut.

It
did
not
do
well
in
the
theatres
but
got
a
lot
of
critical
acclaim.
It
was
nominated
for
the
National
Awards.

For
me,
it
was
interesting
to
experiment
with
a
role
which
spanned
from
20
to
60
years.

I
had
lived
through
my
20s,
30s
and
40s
but
to
play
someone
in
her
60s
was
something
new.

Of
course,
the
make-up
had
to
be
different
and
lining
my
face
with
wrinkles
felt
strange
and
awkward,
but
on
the
whole,

Amma
was
an
enjoyable
experience.

In
1997,
there
was
a
film
called

Vishwavidhaata
with
Sharad
Kapoor
playing
father
and
son.

As
Jai,
he
flees
to
Sharjah
in
a
desperate
bid
to
break
away
from
the
world
of
terrorism.

There
he
undergoes
plastic
surgery
and
returns
to
India
as
Jackie
Shroff.

He
remarries
me,
his
own
wife,
and
we
have
a
son,
Ravi,
who
is
Sharad
again.

The
film
didn’t
do
well
commercially
but
I
enjoyed
playing
Radha
who
shows
a
lot
of
maturity
and

theraav
(calm)
even
in
difficult
situations.

When
these
films
didn’t
do
well,
was
it
disappointing
and
demotivating?

A
film
not
doing
well
is
not
new.
We
have
yet
to
discover
the
formula
for
a
surefire
hit.

As
an
actor,
you
just
choose
from
the
scripts
that
come
your
way
and
then
give
the
character
your
best.

You
have
no
control
over
how
the
film
is
made,
how
it
shapes
up
and
how
it
is
marketed.

All
these
factors
also
have
a
role
to
play
in
its
box
office
outcome.

I
never
look
back.
For
me,
it
has
always
been
about
moving
forward.

In
2004,
you
did
a
Telugu
film

Jai,
followed
by
the
Kannada
film

Jackpot
and
an
Odia
film

Rakate
Lekhichi
Naa.
Was
it
because
regional
cinema
offered
more
scope
to
showcase
your
histrionics?

I’ve
acted
in
Telugu,
Kannada
and
Bengali
films
in
the
’90s
too
when
I
was
doing

Kurbaan,
Khiladi
and

Jo
Jeeta
Wohi
Sikandar
with
Salman
(Khan),
Akshay
(Kumar)
and
Aamir
(Khan).

It
was
a
trend
to
experiment
with
regional
cinema
then
and
there
were
a
lot
of
offers
from
the
South
and
Tollyguage.

I
picked
from
what
I
got
and,
in
comparison
to
my
colleagues,
I
didn’t
take
on
that
many
films
outside
of
Hindi
cinema.

The
idea
was
always
to
do
something
interesting
irrespective
of
language.

Would
you
say
OTT
has
helped
actors
evolve?

It
has
certainly
given
those
like
me
a
chance
and
the
creative
liberty
to
do
something
different.

I
did
Tanuja
Chandra’s

Hush
Hush
in
2022.

It
touches
on
taboo
subjects
like
infertility,
mental
health,
money
laundering
and
child
sex
trafficking.

My
character,
Meera
Yadav,
runs
an
orphanage
and
a
child
sex
racket.

I
was
apprehensive
about
whether
I
could
pull
off
this
character
which
was
so
different
from
my
usual
roles
but
with
Tanuja
by
my
side,
believing
in
me,
I
enjoyed
the
challenge.

There
was
another
series
the
following
year
—
JD
Majethia
and
Aatish
Kapadia’s

Happy
Family:
Conditions
Apply,
with
Ratna
Pathak
Shah,
Raj
Babbar
and
Atul
Kulkarni,
which
was
more
familiar
zone.

It
was
in
the
running
for
four
Filmfare
OTT
Awards,
including
Best
Comedy
Series.

Any
recent
projects
you
are
looking
forward
to?

Dhanbad,
an
OTT
series,
whose
shooting
I
have
just
completed.

I
play
a
brutal
village
don
which
is
again
an
unusual
character
for
me,
so
the
journey
becomes
more
interesting.

I’ve
not
been
doing
much
work
because
I
was
not
getting
the
kind
of
roles
I
want
to
do.

It’s
okay
to
aspire
to
a
higher
level
of
human
achievement
instead
of
doing
the
same
thing
again
and
again.

The
time
is
right
now
for
good
work
but
I
aim
for
quality
over
quantity.

So,
even
though
a
lot
of
scripts
are
coming
my
way
—
I
just
heard
an
interesting
narration
yesterday
—
I
will
go
by
intuition
and
the
pleasure
of
acting
when
picking
and
choosing
projects.

I’ve
done
a
lot
of
work
early
on
in
my
career.
Now,
I
want
to
work
at
my
own
pace,
do
roles
that
make
me
feel
good
from
within
and
not
because
I
want
to
oblige
somebody
or
because
I
want
to
do
anything
just
to
keep
myself
occupied.

There
are
so
many
other
things
that
also
give
me
joy
and
I
want
to
make
time
for
them
too.