She breezes in the room all smiles and sounds. Words flow incessantly from her; she gesticulates wildly. When posed with a query, she often reacts with hot flushes of emotions. Her enthusiasm is contagious and it promptly puts everyone her at ease. She's a rare ingenue who seems genuinely at ease.

Sonam Kapoor aka Anil Kapoor's daughter; is the stuff true blue movie stars are made of. Right now, she's behaving like a dervish off a griddle for the dress trial at Sanjay Bhansali's apartment. With her doe eyes and angelic face, Sonam is hard to miss. But it's only when she applies the crimson lipstick that the full force of her star quality hits you upfront. In a minute, she's transformed. She's no longer the cutesy girl but a jazzy Jane on the brink of fame. She dazzles you, just like that.

Let's start at the very beginning. As Anil Kapoor's daughter; Sonam has walked on velvet. "My parents gave me everything that I ever wanted," she grins. "But Dad is a strict disciplinarian. So it was always early to bed early to rise. Yes, they gave me everything I wanted but within reason. I was indulged when it came to food. But if I ever wanted money I had to give a solid reason before I could get it. You know, I got my first designer bag at 19. As the oldest child, I was really protected and disciplined."

Since Dad never brought work home and Mom didn't belong to the movie world, Sonam grew up in a sanitized environment far from glitzy showbiz. Well, almost. She recalls, "I've never been on my dad's sets. I've never gone to his movie premieres. My dad kept us away completely because my mom isn't really interested in all this. She doesn't even really watch movies."

Running her fingers through her cascading hair; she adds, "But on the flip side, because I haven't seen the industry up close and personal, I'm so excited about everything. Going on the sets is awe-inspiring. I'm open-mouthed all the time, 'Oh my God! There are so many people on the set.' When I entered the vanity van for the first time, I called up my dad excitedly, 'Daddy I'm in my vanity van.' I'm like, 'Wow! I'm looking at the camera now.' For me, it's a whole new world. And I'm so grateful for it. Had I grown up with it, I would be jaded. Nothing would excite me."

But Sonam's been a movie buff since her childhood. And that's amazing considering the atmosphere at home was never filmi. She giggles, "I used to be glued to television watching Madhuri Dixit doing Dhak dhak karne laga and Sridevi shimmy to Mere haathon mein. And I knew I wanted to do it too. I wanted to be them because they were getting all the hot men."

It was in the eighth grade though that the impact of the movies really hit her: or to be precise, she realised how big a star her dad was. "My dad had come to the school for a function and everyone went crazy," she recalls. "And I was so embarrassed. I told him that if he ever came to school again I wouldn't ever talk to him. Come on yaar, no one was paying me any attention," she laughs at the memories.

What followed was a two-year study stint at the United World College in Singapore, where she studied Bertolt Brecht, indulged her taste buds and put on oodles of weight. And then as fate would decree, Sonam was back in India determined to do something with her life. So like her co-star Ranbir Kapoor, she started out as an assistant to Sanjay Leela Bhansali on Black. "Brecht spoke about cinema that says something more than mere words and visuals. I wanted to follow that." In the same breath she says, I've seen Devdas 20 times. I've lost count on the number of times I've seen Khamoshi and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. I'm Sir's (Sanjay Leela Bhansali) greatest fan. I came back and took a year off from college. Rani (Mukherji), who's a family friend, was doing Black at the time. And I was like, 'You're working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. You lucky woman.' I told her I was desperate to assist him and could she please talk to him on my behalf. My dad of course scoffed at the idea. He wanted me to finish my studies and lose weight. But I was adamant. Finally, he relented and I pleaded with him to be THE Anil Kapoor for five minutes and do the needful. He did."

TAKING the story ahead she narrates how Leela aunty (Sanjay's mother) told her she should become an actress the first time she saw her: she smiles, "Sir (Sanjay Bhansali), too said the same thing. I told him, 'I can't act, I want to assist you on Black.' He said, 'Okay, start from tomorrow.' He gave me the script, I read it and was floored. It was while making Black that he decided he wanted me as a heroine in one of his movies. I was like 80 kgs. I was in shock. But I went with the flow."

Tender gosling Sonam gradually morphed into swan. Says she, "Sir, is my guru, my teacher; my everything. He's responsible for my acting, the way I look and my maturity. He's my university for the past few years. Both of us share the best relationships. We fight, we go shopping and we love each other; Besides being my teacher; he's also my friend. I'm completely in awe of him yet at the same time I can talk to him about anything."

The whole experience of working with the filmmaker has been challenging, to say the least. She comments, "We were on our toes constantly, always on a high. Like one of my friends said that working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali is like having 15 shots of caffeine. He constantly involved us. So we were assisting as well as acting. And that was great."

Ask her about Bhansali's curmudgeonly ways and she laughs. Says she, "Mom scolds me too. Of course, I huff and puff initially. But then after sulking, better sense prevails. I know one thing, Sir will never say anything that's not right for me. Because besides being my friend, he's also my teacher: Thirdly, Saawariya is his baby. So whatever he says to me, besides being for my benefit is also for his benefit. Because if I goof up people will blame him. So I can never hold anything against him. I'm ready to go through it again and again and again."

And how did her father react when she told him she wanted to be an actress? "I didn't tell him, Sir did," she states matter of factly. "When he told me he wanted me to act, I said I'll have to ask my dad. Because whatever modern upbringing I might have had eventually my parents have the last word. I'm a Punjabi girl, who's covered from head to toe when she visits her grandparents. So I told him to ask daddy. Now daddy loves me. He said if that's what my daughter wants, I'm with her. It was that easy. Dad says the most wonderful years of his life were spent in the industry so how could he deny his daughter the pleasure. To him his daughter is better than a son. My mom was a bit iffy about it in the beginning but she's okay now."

She thanks God for making her Anil Kapoor's daughter; "Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do this film," she chuckles. I would have never got to meet Sir: At the same time I'm ready for the comparisons. But I feel I'm not even five per cent in the league to be compared to dad. You know, he's never got a bad review. That's daunting. And I always grumble, 'Daddy why did you have to do that?'. He's never had any controversies attached to him. I've no clue how I'll live up to his stature."

So is she ready for a life where her sorrows, her humiliation her affairs will be public? Apparently she is. "It's very easy to say I chose this and it comes with the territory," she replies. "But the fact is I want the attention. I want people to know me, If you have nothing to hide, why fear anything then? And if you are answerable to public, you are answerable to the public because you're an image. I'm going into it fully aware of what awaits me."

THEN I get into choppy waters and ask about her alleged link-up with her hero Ranbir Kapoor and she goes, "Me and Ranbir! It's completely untrue. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to work with him. Because I feel I'm too inexperience to be involved with somebody and yet share a professional relationship with him. If I'm fighting with the person, I'd be incapable of going on the sets and acting with him. I'll ask him to get out of my sight. So there wasn't any relationship. But we're friends. Yuck! I hate that statement. Let me amend that. We're co-stars and our families are friends."

Raise doubts about the fire in her belly to make it to the top and she fiercely defends herself. "Upbringing has nothing to do with it," she firmly declares. "Indira Ghandi was born with a golden spoon in her mouth but that didn't stop her from being the most ambitious woman ever in our country. I'm game for a challenge. Also, I come with baggage, I come with responsibility. So I have to live up to if. But frankly, why should I apologise for my family background? It's a privilege to be born as Anil Kapoor's daughter."

And no, she isn't name-dropping.