After all the promise she showed at the onset, she hasn’t taken the industry by storm yet. “I like doing things my way and that means slowly,” she laughs. “I’m not going to get worked up about where people think I could have been right now because that wouldn’t have worked for me at all. If I do too many films just to prove that I am in the running, I’d burn out. I’m ambitious, no doubt about that, but I am not in any race. I don’t want to get anywhere in a rush. As long as I am learning every day, doing exciting things and having a lot of fun, what more do I want?”

There’s no denying her acting talent, still entirely unexplored, but the fact is, her intelligent choice of endorsements have helped build her image and brand as much as her films. “Actually, I haven’t done it consciously. I mean I could have done a lot more endorsements offered to me. But I choose products that I genuinely believe in. I know it’s a cliché but it’s true. Even the endorsements I have today — I didn’t go looking for them — they came to me. So I am happy with what I have. Actually I am very content, it doesn’t take a lot to make me happy.”

Not a lot more than shopping and designer togs though. She chuckles, “You know they say shopping is therapeutic? That is true. When I am feeling low I go shopping and it just lifts my spirits. It’s another thing that it also burns a hole in my pocket. But then when you gotta have something, you gotta. Right?”

Does it bother her to get more attention for her fashion sense than her acting abilities? “See, I am an actress by profession, but I am also today’s girl who likes dressing up and is in tune with fashion. If I’m going out I like to take the effort to dress up and do fun things, that’s what fashion is all about. And I take it as a huge compliment when people laud me for my fashion sense.” Then as an afterthought she says, “But when I am in front of the camera, I am definitely an actress — more than a fashionista.”
She intends to prove that with her next film Aisha based on Jane Austen’s Emma. Paired opposite Abhay Deol, whose reputation as an intelligent actor is enhanced with each interesting film choice he makes, “Abhay’s phenomenally talented and a very clever person,” she gushes, “He is a wise man.”

The way she talks about her co-stars belies the easy rapport she shares with them. “Yeah it’s true,” she agrees. “As much as I love being a woman, doing girlie things and dressing up, I am one of the guys on the sets. Still, Aisha is largely an all-women set-up, and I love it. There is always a lot of banter. It’s fun!”
She can’t not love the movie as it really is very her. Sonam gets to play a rich Delhi kid (with a wardrobe to die for) living in a palatial home on the uber cool Aurangzeb Road. Aisha is going to be a treat to watch for fashionistas as the film has Sonam and her pals making loads of style statements.

While Sonam is steadily making her mark in the industry, her father Anil Kapoor has moved on to bigger things in Hollywood post Slumdog Millionaire, snagging a pivotal role in the hugely popular show 24 and reports are there’s more to come. “It’s cool na,” she says excitedly. “I am so emotional about my dad and all he has managed to achieve, not just now but over all these years. And this is just the icing on the cake, he truly deserves it,” she adds proudly. The Kapoors obviously are in for the long haul and one day it might all be Sonam’s for the taking.