'Esha looks great with Hrithik and Aftab!'

Nidhi Taparia

Shilarna Vaze is just realising the perks of having a best friend in Esha Deol.

This bubbly 17-year-old from St Xavier's College, Mumbai, is not just Esha's best friend off screen but on screen as well.

"It happened pretty much by chance. Arjun, the director of Na Tum Jano Na Hum, wanted one of Esha's friends in real life to play the role in reel life as well. So I went for the audition.

"The next thing I know I was acting. That includes the fact that I had an entire hotel room to myself with three beds to jump on!"

Friends with Esha ever since std II, Shilarna loves her brush with showbiz, "I am enjoying every bit of it. Getting to spend time with Esha, playing a part that comes naturally to me, sitting in Hrithik's lap for some of the scenes -- what more can one possibly ask for?

"Even between shots, it's great fun to sit around and chat with Hrithik and Esha. He is a great, fun-loving guy to have around!"

Like most friends, Shilarna knows her friend inside out, "Although her mother and her sister do give her company on outdoor shoots, I think Esha does get lonely. So, I guess she enjoys having me around to share stuff with.

"I think she's a very easygoing person with no hang-ups, no tantrums, nothing. We don't fight but I let her know when she gets on my nerves. We hang out a lot together. And since we stay really close by, we spend a lot of time at each other's houses."

Being protective of Esha comes naturally to her, "Esha has never been a typical star kid and she takes her own time making friends. But once she breaks the ice, she is great fun to be with. We used to be a huge gang in school, but now it has come down to the two or three of us.

"I find it strange to read the kind of things that get written about her; about her being snooty or cold. She is so normal. She's had crushes and infatuations just like other teenagers do."

Before the next inevitable and obvious question, Shilarna clams up, "I am not saying anything more.

"I have this awful habit of putting my foot into my mouth."

"I think her learning Odissi has improved her general dancing skills. And we don't really go out dancing very often as Hema (Malini) Aunty is quite strict about that!"

When asked whether Esha has discussed her wanting to act, she says, matter-of-factly, "I think it must have been on her mind. Especially since both her parents are such great actors. Though when she signed her first film, we really ribbed her. We would tease her about being a typical star on the sets and say, "Nimbu-paani le aao!" (get lemonade) and things like that, until she would go red in the face.

"Likewise, with the pictures of her first photo session with Hrithik. We all admired Hrithik, and we told her, 'Why do we need to look at you? Your room has pictures of you anyway!' "

However, Esha is a different person on the sets, "She is extremely professional, and does her part with dedication and intensity."

Shilarna, for her part, finds the spotlight disconcerting, even though she is temporarily sharing it with Esha, "For instance, when we walked down to a in Pune, we had an armed bodyguard following us. But on the upside, we really feel proud of her (Esha) when kids come up to her for autographs and she is recognised!"

"I think she is a fabulous actress and a better dancer. I would rate her a seven-and-a-half on ten for acting and an eight-and-a-half for dancing!"

When asked who Esha shares a better on-screen chemistry with, Shilarna says with admirable diplomacy, "I think she makes a great pair with both Hrithik and Aftab on-screen."

As for herself, Shilarna dismisses her foray into Bollywood as a fluke, "I don't intend to take up acting as a profession. My college is very strict about attendance. So my parents have allowed me to face the camera just this once."